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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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[–] crabsrcool@alien.top 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In the road by cormac McCarthy he says “wan slats of light” a couple of times. It was such an idiosyncratic phrase that even twice is too much

[–] Dingbrain1@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I’m reading Suttree right now and three or four times he’s described something spiral-shaped as whelk-like or whelked (a whelk is a sea creature with a spiral shell)

[–] grizzlenuts@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

“Soundless” is like a trademark McCarthy word