# "Atlas Chuckled" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725 "2019-01-14T09:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/1 "2019-01-14T09:40:06Z")
I’ve just listened to the audio version of _Atlas Shrugged,_ available from Audible (52 hours, 20 minutes, 28 seconds). Something caught my ear that I hadn’t noticed in the print version: the word “chuckle” (noun or verb) was used 127 times in the book. The word “shrug” was used merely 49 times. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/2 "2019-01-14T10:17:50Z")
Makes sense. Expressing strong emotion is a sign of weakness; a chuckle is as close as Randian ubermenschen are allowed to get to a real laugh. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/3 "2019-01-14T12:29:45Z")
How many times is “sneer” used? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/4 "2019-01-14T14:19:03Z")
Every author seems to have their favorite words. In John Norman’s “Gor” novels, nobody ever “looks” at anything. They “regard” it. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/5 "2019-01-14T14:59:19Z")
There’s also the “thesaurus on their lap” author, wherein each paragraph uses a different synonym. A few paragraphs of “Shades of Grey” got me to notice – oh, yeah, heh, I wrote like that in college too. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/6 "2019-01-14T15:31:54Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > How many times is “sneer” used? Or “astonished”? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/7 "2019-01-14T19:45:05Z")
For another author it was ‘gibbous’ and ‘batrachian’, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/8 "2019-01-14T19:55:24Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > For another author it was ‘gibbous’ and ‘batrachian’, among others. All the better to display his coruscating wit. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/9 "2019-01-14T20:56:40Z")
I’ve never read Rand at length, but I understand “gaunt” may be a favorite of hers as well. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/10 "2019-01-14T21:00:34Z")
Lovecraft’s use of “squamous” always sticks out like a sore thumb to me; it’s a word never heard outside either a Lovecraft story or a bad visit to an oncologist. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/11 "2019-01-14T21:12:52Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’ve just listened to the audio version of _Atlas Shrugged,_ available from Audible (52 hours, 20 minutes, 28 seconds). Why would you do that to yourself? :eek: I mean, even my father thinks _Atlas Shrugged_ is one of the worst books ever written, and he _agrees_ with her viewpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/12 "2019-01-14T22:00:35Z")
_Thomas Covenant_: Nobody needs stuff; they have exigencies. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/13 "2019-01-14T22:14:44Z")
There’s an SF book I read about 25 years ago - I think it was by Margaret Weiss - the name of which I can’t remember, but which I still think of as the Grimly Book. I swear to Og, the word appeared on every single page. It was… grim. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/14 "2019-01-14T22:26:02Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’ve just listened to the audio version of _Atlas Shrugged,_ available from Audible (52 hours, 20 minutes, 28 seconds). Something caught my ear that I hadn’t noticed in the print version: the word “chuckle” (noun or verb) was used 127 times in the book. The word “shrug” was used merely 49 times. I recommend the 8-9 hour long abridged edition narrated by Edward Hermann. Much shorter, and he does a good job. He also did an abridged version of _The Fountainhead_. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/15 "2019-01-14T23:09:38Z")
> [@Tinker\_Grey](#): > > _Thomas Covenant_: Nobody needs stuff; they have exigencies. Plus, everything is “eldritch” and/or “puissant”. _Everything_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/16 "2019-01-14T23:27:18Z")
China Miéville uses the word \*pinioned \*way too often, but it reached a height in (IIRC) _Perdido Street Station_. I swear that book contained more instances of the word than every other text I’ve read combined. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/17 "2019-01-14T23:33:37Z")
“Atlas Chuckled” …so _that’s_ what causes earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/18 "2019-01-15T00:54:22Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > China Miéville uses the word \*pinioned \*way too often, but it reached a height in (IIRC) _Perdido Street Station_. I swear that book contained more instances of the word than every other text I’ve read combined. Well it _did_ have a birdman with missing wings as a major plot point… ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/19 "2019-01-15T01:08:13Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Well it _did_ have a birdman with missing wings as a major plot point… And a mad scientist investigating how various species of flying things are able to fly, and a non-flying humanoid species where the females have winged beetles for heads, and generally lots of beings with lots of weird appendages trying to control one another’s actions, physically or otherwise … can you blame the author for leaning a bit heavily on “pinion” and its siblings? (I need to give _Perdido Street Station_ another read. I’ll check for pinions. :)) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725/20 "2019-01-15T01:19:03Z")
I actually find this to be the greatest weakness of audiobooks: overused words _reaaaally_ jump out at you after a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlas-chuckled/827725.md?page=2)