What are the fanfic words?

[prillalar]

There are certain words that always make me think, "Ah, yes, I am reading fanfic." They are not bad words in and of themselves, but they seem to occur more often in fanfic than in any other prose I read. Here are a few off the top of my head:

* Ghost, used as a verb. "Jack's fingers ghosted over Daniel's skin."

* Cant. "Kara stood, canted in the doorway, and looked Sharon up and down."

* Ruck. "Kaidoh's hair was rumpled and his shirt rucked up over his belly."

Got any more?

eta: Just to be clear, I'm not talking about badfic and its tropes. Generally, I see these words in good fiction.

Comments

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

assbaby

[inthetatras]

If that one shows up anywhere, I cannot take it seriously.

[inthetatras]

I only ever see the first one, never the other two. Hrm.

[prillalar]

I don't see "cant" a lot, but sometimes and I *never* see it anywhere else. Ruck I do see from time to time. Also, I've probably used it myself.

ah, words....

[starshine24mc.livejournal.com]

laved...
pucker as a noun (no lemons here)...
Oh, and nobody's eyes are ever "hooded" or "changeable" except in fanfic *L*

and of course, the ever evil "prostrate" as a noun *LOL!

Re: ah, words....

[prillalar]

Laved for sure! And I think there could be several chapters on "eyes in fanfic". *g*

[grasshopper.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, all three of those. Hips seem to "cant" a lot, too.

People in fanfic are also always "capturing" someone else's lips (giving me the image of a surreal, Dalí-esque pair of lips in a cage) and "carding" through someone else's hair -- I admit the latter is an evocative image, suggesting the way hair can sort of fall over in successive waves as you run your fingers through it. But still, it's odd.

[prillalar]

"Carding" -- good one! I think these are the kinds of words that are good the first time someone uses them, but when other people pick them up, they start to stand out too much.

[lynnmonster.livejournal.com]

If I never see another pair of tongues battling for dominance ... then I will have probably cured myself of trolling for fic in obscure fandoms on ff.net.

Battling tongues, new from Hasbro...

[starshine24mc.livejournal.com]

and when they're not battling, they're dueling *L* "My name is Inigo Montongue-a; you killed my fanfic, prepare to die!"

[destina.livejournal.com]

Carded. "He carded his fingers through Daniel's hair."

Bed. Yes, I said bed! Even the best writers succumb to the lure of this dialogue exchange: "Bed?" "Bed. Now." *rolls eyes*

Mine.

[prillalar]

Possibly all one-word dialogue should be re-evaluated. :)

[inthetatras]

Okay, after reading a post on a friend's LJ about whether a certain demon exterminating female from the Japanese feudal era wears undergarments (she wouldn't, by the way), I came across a word that is perfect for what you're looking for.

Rakish. As in, a rakish grin. It's just... there's nothing wrong with the word itself, but it screams fanfiction.

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Rakish just makes me think of pirates, not fanfic. Another of those swashbuckling romance words, perhaps?

[pauraque]

I don't know if I have ever come across the verb "cant". I certainly don't know what it means, though from your usage it seems to mean to shift your weight or stand at an angle. I guess I haven't been reading the right fanfic.

The other two are right on, especially "ruck", which I suspect was actually invented by slash fandom, and the OED just had to retcon it.

[vissy.livejournal.com]

Fisting. Whole lot of fisting going on in fanfic. (What is wrong with 'clenching'?)

[wickedcherub.livejournal.com]

I read this comment and thought that 'clenching' was a new word I didn't know for shoving your fist into someone's nether holes. (hee, nether holes)

Then I realised what you meant.

[harriet-spy.livejournal.com]

"Quirked." And I think that one's actually my fault!

[prillalar]

How do you use it? I used to say my cat quirked her ears.

[ajat.livejournal.com]

What does 'cant' mean ? *worries*

[shikishi.livejournal.com]

It means to slant or bevel something, to give it angle. Rather hard to do with things such as, oh, your hips. :)

Rather funnily, it also means a rather boring speech filled with trite statements. :)

[jain]

"Taut."

Also, I can't say that I've noticed "cant," but the other two, definitely.

[prillalar]

I think taut might or might not ping me, depending on how it was used.

[shikishi.livejournal.com]

I find that, while not signs of bad fiction, it is a trap. I have committed these offenses. Most good writer's in fandom have. It is that search for a word when the word becomes elusive and you don't want to use that same old boring one yet again. So touched becomes ghosted, combed becomes carded, leaned against the doorframe becomes canted their hips lazily.

*sigh*

It is the curse of the Harlequin romance novel I do believe.

[prillalar]

I wouldn't call any of these an offense by any means. Just unusual words that seem to get used a lot in fanfic. I'm trying to compile a list of them so I can avoid them in the future. :)

Actually, I like using the same old boring words over and over. I think if they're plain enough, they're nearly invisible. But my taste is for very plain prose and I realise that not everybody feels the same way.

[robynbender.livejournal.com]

"snick" and "snicked" for the sound of a door closing. (I know this for fact because geekturnedvamp never allows its use [g].)

[prillalar]

Hee! "Snicked" makes me think of Wolverine.

[panisdead.livejournal.com]

"Husk" as a verb: "I've never killed a wildebeast before," he husked.

This never bothered me until I saw it on someone's list of fanfic peeves, and now it leaps out at me every time.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Yes. You beat me to "husk". Grrrr.

[gloss]

Until yesterday, I loved cant as a verb. Now, having read this, I must erase it from the current WiP. *woe!*

I second the nomination of mine as fic-ish word. Also, bruising when it modifies a kiss or grip.

[prillalar]

As long as you're not using all of them in the same sentence. *g*

Bruising is a strange one. I bruise quite easily and I've never had someone grab me so hard it left a bruise, let alone be kissed like that. I can't imagine it would be very enjoyable.

good

[kormantic.livejournal.com]

Because I especially love the word "ruck" and I'm using it in a story RIGHT NOW.

*whew*

Send me healthy brain waves? My brain is... woggly. or something.

Your brain spins like a top and it's so shiny!

Re: good

[prillalar]

Secretly, I really like it too. It just jumps out at me, is all.

My brain is woggly right now too. :( I must get it sorted by the end of the summer.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Thank you for mentioning "ghost" as a verb. That's bothered me for a *decade* now.

[prillalar]

Hee! It works the first two times you see it and then it's just a little weird.

[branchandroot]

"A swear" or "swears", referring to curses, epithets, imprecations, etc. I actually suspect this may be a regionalism, given the way otherwise grammatical and with-it authors keep using it. But hits my fic-meter with a hammer every time, and I've never seen a piece of commercial fiction that was let to get away with it.

I have seen commercial fiction using ghost as a verb and (alas) using rucked to describe clothing. Not even harlequins, either. *considers* Usually, though, it's a person ghosting over the ground or some such.

[prillalar]

I don't know if I've seen "a swear" at all in fanfic, though I recognise it from blog prose.

I've seen these words in commercial fiction too, but not nearly so often as in fanfic.

[greensilver.livejournal.com]

"Unrelenting" makes me think of fanfic, even though it's not fanfic-exclusive by any means. Unrelenting pursuit. Unrelenting gaze. Unrelenting ... other things. *g* Not necessarily bad fanfic, but fanfic, certainly.

[prillalar]

Ooh, that's one I hadn't considered. I'll add it to the list.

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

On a more serious note, "Snakes", like "He snakes his arm around her waist" or "She snakes her tongue around his rigid whatnot."

[prillalar]

Good call. [ insert ObSnakes on a Plane ref here ]

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Pad, padded, padding. The thing fanfic characters do when moving from the bedroom to the kitchen.

[prillalar]

You know, I think I used that in something recently, meant to edit it out, and then forgot. D'oh!

[justhuman.livejournal.com]

Here via metafandom

I think that you'd find most of the words in the comments, as opposed to cliched phrases, in any kind of fic. Generally speaking they aren't bad words but we tend to see them over and over again in stories. They are perhaps tired words. You get that with character descriptions too -- Rodney's crooked mouth or square hands -- apt descriptions, near-perfect descriptions, but I don't know why they have to be in *every* SGA story.

[prillalar]

Tired is a good way to describe them! I'm trying to make a list of things to avoid. And you're right about the character descriptions. It's hard to make these things fresh every time.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

Smirk, when used to mean what seems to be an ordinary kind of smile.

Also, dammit. I thought I'd gotten 'card' from someplace other than fanfic, and I didn't know it was common. And now it's too late . . .

[kayjayuu.livejournal.com]

Some characters really do smirk, though, so using it with them would be more appropriate than others.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

Husked. As in, "'I want you,' he husked." Which always makes me think of husking corn, but that's beside the point.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

I see husk has already been brought up. *sigh* That'll teach me to read through all the comments first. :-)