M7: How many times can an author use a big word?

[Seth]

I don't tend to notice more common words being used too often (for example, I was oblivious to the 'fisting' in Fourth Wing). But the word perseverating was used three times in the novel and stood out each time. The first was neat. The second I shook my head, and the third made me want to post this to see if it annoyed anyone else. You can use lots of big words if that's your thing as an author, but if you write a book with only one big word in it, you shouldn't use it more than once - at least that's the way I see it.

[John (Taloni)]

Peter Hamilton has "Juddering" all over the Commonwealth books. I noticed it. The main thing I would want there though is more Commonwealth books.

[Chris K.]

Yeah, this bugged me too. Not because I didn't know perseverating and had to look it up (I don't mind looking up words I don't know) but because it stopped the momentum of my reading. The writing style was down to earth and very easy to read. Throwing in a word like perseverating was odd and stood out.

[Scott]

Curious. I've never at any point in my life been confused as someone with whatever counts as a "typical" vocabulary. And even though I've built up quite the list in my head over the decades of words that others apparently consider "big words" or otherwise unusual, perseverate has never been on that list. I've never thought of it as anything but a perfectly ordinary English word. Given its pretty specific meaning, my mind doesn't immediately offer an equivalent alternative.

I didn't even notice that word while reading the book so I have no context. That probably means it hit my brain as the appropriate word to use for whatever was being communicated.

[Trike]

Scott wrote: "I didn't even notice that word while reading the book so I have no context. That probably means it hit my brain as the appropriate word to use for whatever was being communicated."

Same. It didn’t jump out at me, either, so it must’ve been used appropriately.

I vaguely recall some short story I read decades ago where the author (Alan Dean Foster maybe?) was explaining how writers work and that they “include one big word per story to demonstrate how perspicacious they are”. 😂

[Ruth]

“Perseverating” stuck out for me too. It wasn’t used wrongly, but it’s an unusual enough word that I was surprised to see the author perseverating in using it again after its initial appropriate use…

[Eric]

I was listening to the audiobook so I didn't even notice the word. I think the first time I saw it I would have looked it up and then been ok with it after that.

[Iain]

Any sufferers of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia !! This is the thread for you..

[Seth]

Chris K. wrote: "The writing style was down to earth and very easy to read."

This is probably what got me triggered. Everything was all "hey 8, don't be such an asshole, man" and then he sits down and perseverates.

[Tamahome]

Samuel Delany likes "inchohate".

[terpkristin]

Hahah I noticed some of the words were what in the US might be called "SAT words". Once I used one of those words (ubiquitous) in a job interview and the guy interviewing me said "I don't know what that means" and that was when I knew I didn't get THAT job.

But I enjoyed coming across the big words. I'm a nerd though. :)

[Stephen]

The thing I like about Kindle books is the ability to highlight a word and go to dictionary for the meaning, In the old days had a note book and looked it up the old way.

[Tamahome]

Alastair Reynolds loves big words in Chasm City. I blame the melding plague.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Stephen wrote: "The thing I like about Kindle books is the ability to highlight a word and go to dictionary for the meaning, In the old days had a note book and looked it up the old way."

The dictionary is a well used feature for me, but the feature that I love the most is the translate feature.

Most you can guess from context, but it is nice to have an exact translation.

The wikipedia and Google features are also handy.