Get Reviews! discussion

More and more often I run into words which the author has constructed, quite unnecessarily, it would appear because they lack the vocabulary or adequate command of English.

Most often, an adjective is forcibly converted to a noun.
Some examples:
Peacefulness. The word the writer is struggling to find would be 'peace'. By way of illustration: 'She loved the peacefulness of the estuary in the evening.' Similarly, 'tactfulness' (tact), 'furiousness' (fury), 'enviousness' (envy).
Resentfulness. Already in existence and in general use: 'resentment'.
'Whimsicalness'. Or, 'whimsicality'?
'Mendaciousness.' i.e. 'mendacity'.

I think I've even seen 'innocentness' recently. Which would make the writer guilty of forgetting about 'innocence'.

What really bothers me, as an old fogey who doesn't like change, is that some of these now appear in dictionaries!
What is the world coming to?

Yes, you are an old fogey.

But so am I. I'll order some jackets for the club.

Harrumph. I'm a 3XL.

But longer words (as in your examples) take more space, ie, more pages, and then you get paid for more page reads without actually writing more, right? ;)

I'm still struggling with 'they' as a gender pronoun. Because of my psychology background, when I hear 'they' used to describe a single human being, I immediately go to 'multiple personality disorder afflicted individual'. Please could we have a pronoun that isn't already in use to mean something completely different?

I'll take a size large.

Okay, two 3XLs and one large. They only come in ultra-conservative navy blue, so those are your colour choices (credit to Henry Ford, it's not my idea.)

Okay, the club is open for old fogeys and wannabes.

What's getting me waving my pencil over the front lawn is the neglect for the use of tense verbs. Who gives a hoot about when events happen in time anymore?

You kids get off my writing lawn!

K.S. wrote: "But longer words (as in your examples) take more space, ie, more pages, and then you get paid for more page reads without actually writing more, right? ;)

I'm not convinced that's why they're doing it. But neither are you, right? ;)

K.S. wrote: "I'm still struggling with 'they' as a gender pronoun. Because of my psychology background, when I hear 'they' used to describe a single human being, I immediately go to 'multiple personality disorder afflicted individual'."

Don't feel alone, sister. Because I'm right there with you!

Michael wrote: "What's getting me waving my pencil over the front lawn is the neglect for the use of tense verbs."

Well... how about:
stab
agonise
blindfold
clench (teeth or bowels)
cocked (as in Alexander Rollins's revolver?)
dangle
strained...

no, wait. That's not what you meant, was it?

But that pencil is a great idea. (HB, 6B, or 3H?) Waving a mouse just doesn't have the same air of geriatric menace.

Embrace the true spirit of Old Fogey. Use a green editing pencil. Work on paper. Refuse to use peripheral computer devices. Wave a real mouse at the transgressors of grammar (although they bite and you may get complaints from the SPCA).

Yes, indeed. The pen is mightier than the sword, but the green editing pencil is OP.

Don't underestimate the plain old HB. I still have a scar in the web between two fingers from my schooldays, circa 1973? (An irritated fellow scholar was aiming for the centre of my hand on his desk, but I moved it almost fast enough.)

To enhance the image, may I recommend an accountant's green eyeshade (aka 'dealer's visor') to go with the editing pencil?

I agree. What's with wannabe writers creating words out of thin air?

Insisture. Wappened? Impeticos. Or my favorite: ribaudred!

That William Shakespeare should just drop his quill and take up a career where he can make a name for himself.

I like blue. And roomy. I'll take a size large, please.

Yesterday. 'Cruelness'. Aaaargh. Is there any way the internet allows one to smack the author through their ebook?

Obviously I'm not going to leave a bad review for a book with good plot, characterization, and generally good writing. But if I don't find a way to deal with my frustratedness soon, I'm going to need a better dentist.