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Do you ever notice an author using a word over and over again? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by PastaConsumer@alien.top to c/books@metacritics.zone

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I’m currently reading The Duke and I and the author is constantly using the word “acerbic”. I had never heard of the word before now and had to google the definition. The word has shown up so much that I’m tempted to go through the book and count its appearances lol.

Have you noticed any authors having favorite words that they use page after page?

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[–] wordsmithfantasist@alien.top 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I noticed amiable in Jane Austen too!

[–] Matilda-17@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Amiable had a stronger meaning at the time. It’s a very mild term now, meaning friendly, agreeable, easy to get along with, nice to have around. It used to have stronger, deeper, positive connotations of being good and admirable.

Similarly, ‘mischief’ had a worse connotation then than it does nowadays, when it practically suggests ‘harmless’.