# Authors and the unusual words they like to overuse **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731 "2014-02-07T03:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/21 "2014-02-07T15:02:41Z")
Stephen King likes “noisome” and “tenebrous” a little too much. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/22 "2014-02-07T15:25:01Z")
Sometimes an author gets a particular word stuck in his head for a particular book. I noticed this in Tom Clancy’s _Red Rabbit_, where the phrase “above my pay grade” gets quite a workout. Some of his other books also have a pet phrase or two. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/23 "2014-02-07T15:29:53Z")
Squamous (see above) was the first one that came to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/24 "2014-02-07T15:34:44Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Sometimes an author gets a particular word stuck in his head for a particular book. I noticed this in Tom Clancy’s _Red Rabbit_, where the phrase “above my pay grade” gets quite a workout. Some of his other books also have a pet phrase or two. To be honest “above my pay grade” gets quite a workout in real life in the military and with contractors working closely with the military. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/25 "2014-02-07T16:02:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To be honest “above my pay grade” gets quite a workout in real life in the military and with contractors working closely with the military. I use “above my pay grade” at work a lot and I’m not nor have I ever been in the military. I know at least one person from all the branches, though. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/26 "2014-02-07T16:15:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To be honest “above my pay grade” gets quite a workout in real life in the military and with contractors working closely with the military. Quite so, but if it shows up in his other books, I do not recall it. In Red Rabbit, even a KGB guy uses the phrase! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/27 "2014-02-07T16:20:55Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Even just the excerpt is funny. British accents lend themselves really well to humour. In my head at least. The bit I left out in the middle was a digression on the subject of Nyarlathotep and camel humps which was even funnier. The entire story is at that link (which goes to the middle of the story so you’ll have to page back) but it’s worth a quick read. ETA: Oh, and for completeness’ sake: [Pete and Dud](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvQq_tqB0jA) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/28 "2014-02-07T16:25:03Z")
Many years ago I read a historical novel about Rembrandt and the author sure did love to use the word “moist”, especially in describing female characters. Tangent: I started reading a Kindle-bought fantasy “Defying Fate”, part of The Warden series, and had to give it up when it became agonizingly clear that the author had been bitten by a past pluperfect tense in childhood and had developed a total aversion to its use. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/29 "2014-02-07T16:29:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Neil Gaiman weighs in, in his short story “[Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar](http://www.bestlibrary.net/book/Smoke_and_Mirrors/index_21.html)”:It’s a funny story, and much funnier if you’ve both 1) read Lovecraft and 2) heard or seen any of the “Pete and Dud” skits. In case anyone didn’t know and cares, “squamous” apparently means “scaly.” Rather odd way to describe a town, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/30 "2014-02-07T16:47:54Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Stephen King likes “noisome” and “tenebrous” a little too much. …and obdurate! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/31 "2014-02-07T17:03:48Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > …and obdurate! …and rictus! ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/32 "2014-02-07T19:29:09Z")
China Mieville and Mark Gatiss both seem rather fond of “juddering” - a word perhaps a bit more common on the UK side of the pond. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/33 "2014-02-07T19:33:03Z")
I can’t think of a smucking word that Stephen King over used. Not a single Jimla one. Tak! ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/34 "2014-02-07T19:37:44Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Oooh. Vertiginous is a word I thought some author was overusing. Damnit but I can’t remember who it was. Now this is going to bug me. I _think_ it was David Foster Wallace in Infinite Jest. I’m reluctant to say this because he is clearly such a good writer (although man that book went nowhere for the longest time) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/35 "2014-02-07T19:46:30Z")
Ben Black’s Quirk series used “incongruously” so much it was irritating. I even started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=487882) about it - some other examples are in there. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/36 "2014-02-07T22:05:39Z")
JohnT–there is no smilie for Thumbs Up! This will hafta do 🆒. M-O-O-N, that spells Thumbs Up! ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/37 "2014-02-07T22:37:22Z")
In Harry Turtledove’s books, tanks never explode, ignite, burn, or anything else. They always “brew up.” ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/38 "2014-02-07T22:47:44Z")
Stephen R. Donaldson seemed mighty fond of the word “anile” as I recall. His books were hilariously over-written, so I’m sure there were others, but that’s the one that sticks in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/39 "2014-02-07T22:53:45Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > **Gyrate,** I have long suspected that Lovecraft didn’t know what a “gibbous” moon was and seemed to think the word had something to do with gibbering. Well, to be fair, that would be a clever use of a word; it’s both correct \*and \* at the same time is almost a homophone of another atmospherically appropriate word. There’s probably some term for that. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731/40 "2014-02-07T23:39:20Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Stephen R. Donaldson seemed mighty fond of the word “anile” as I recall. His books were hilariously over-written, so I’m sure there were others, but that’s the one that sticks in my memory. Yeah, Donaldson has a bunch. In the Last Chronicles, one that really jumped out at me was “surquedry.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-unusual-words-they-like-to-overuse/680731.md?page=3)