# Authors' Pet Words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017 "2001-09-27T00:44:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/1 "2001-09-27T00:44:01Z")
Are there unusual words that you notice certain authors using in all their books, as though they’re contractually bound to do so? Two that instantly spring to mind are: Piers Anthony: “balk”. It’s as though he were afraid to overuse the word “stop” so instead he overuses “balk”. William Gibson: “lozenge”. It’s a strange word, and when it’s used, it stands out. It stands out often for him. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/2 "2001-09-27T01:20:18Z")
H.P. Lovecraft and “eldritch”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/3 "2001-09-27T01:29:57Z")
Diana Wynne Jones: ‘attending’ as in “she was not attending” (paying attention/listening). David Eddings: ‘really’ ‘sort of’ ‘more or less’ ‘actually’ and other words that mean ‘maybe’. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/4 "2001-09-27T01:37:27Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien and “Leagues.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ndorward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@ndorward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ndorward)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/5 "2001-09-27T01:38:34Z")
Clark Coolidge: “vug” JH Prynne: “sugar” (& related words: “honey”, “saccharine”…) OK, no-one else will know those guys. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![sheerah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@sheerah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sheerah)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/6 "2001-09-27T05:36:44Z")
Dean Koontz---------------chitinous, and arroyo (typically the setting for the chase scene). ---
**Author:** ![frock75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@frock75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frock75)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/7 "2001-09-27T05:56:39Z")
Michael Crichton always seems to have someone in his books with the last name Levine. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/8 "2001-09-27T06:40:24Z")
Stephen King always seems to have his characters’ bowels turn “liquid” when they’re mortally afraid. I know I’ll think of more as soon as I submit this… ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/9 "2001-09-27T07:08:25Z")
Ann Rice: “preternatural” ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/10 "2001-09-27T08:51:26Z")
Rex Stout: certainly. People say “certainly” instead of “of course” or “yes” or “sure” or any other positive. Over and over and over and over. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2001, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/11 "2001-09-27T11:49:30Z")
> [@](#): > > H.P. Lovecraft and “eldritch”. Not to mention: \*\*Batrachian Noisome Fungoid \*\* ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/12 "2001-09-27T12:19:58Z")
Another Stephen King (pet image, rather than word): when someone is hit by something (train/monster/bullet/bad news/whatever) they always seem to get knocked out of their shoes. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/13 "2001-09-27T13:09:14Z")
Dave Barry is known for his “booger” journalism. ---
**Author:** ![KeithB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@KeithB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithB)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/14 "2001-09-27T15:03:24Z")
In Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant, nothing is green, it is always “verdant”. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/15 "2001-09-27T16:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > H.P. Lovecraft and “eldritch”. > > Not to mention: > \*\*Batrachian > Noisome > Fungoid > > * * * You forgot **Squamous** and **Rugose**. [sidebar] I was putting together a collection of Lovecraft’s short stories recently, and I was mightily tempted to name it **Partly Squamous, Partly Rugose**. But I didn’t. [/sidebar] Others: Peter David over-uses “happenstance.” And it’s not a word you forget seeing. For a really silly example of this, see Todd McFarlane’s first _Spider-Man_ issue of about a decade ago and stand in awe at the train-wreck that is **ADVANTAGEOUS!** ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/16 "2001-09-27T16:17:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KeithB \* > \*\*In Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant, nothing is green, it is always “verdant”. \*\* Not quite on-topic, but let me also mention Covenant’s “gaunt, compulsory visage.” I think Donaldson only uses that once, but that’s no respite for those of us whose faces are merely optional… ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/17 "2001-09-27T23:27:03Z")
H. Beam Piper (of “Little Fuzzy” fame): Niffleheim. In honor of this, I have been referring to the overuse of pet words in fiction as “Niffleheim Syndrome” since sometime in the mid '80s. ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/18 "2001-09-27T23:59:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G.B.H. Hornswoggler \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by KeithB \* > > \*\*In Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant, nothing is green, it is always “verdant”. \*\* > > Not quite on-topic, but let me also mention Covenant’s “gaunt, compulsory visage.” I think Donaldson only uses that once, but that’s no respite for those of us whose faces are merely optional… \*\* Oh, Hornswoggler, did your parents decide not to pay extra for the ‘face option’? I always wondered what happened to those kids - did you have to wear a paper bag, or did they give you some kind of leatherette factory-made face, or what? Another one, only slightly different: E. L. Konigsberg and **epiphany**. That makes regular appearances in her later books - there are schools named Epiphany, towns named Epiphany, and then there’s also people having epiphanies - and it isn’t like ‘epiphany’ is an every-day, all-day kinda word. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/19 "2001-09-28T00:49:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G.B.H. Hornswoggler \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > H.P. Lovecraft and “eldritch”. > > > > Not to mention: > > \*\*Batrachian > > Noisome > > Fungoid > > > > * * * > > You forgot **Squamous** and **Rugose**. > > \*\* How could you forget **cyclopean** and **charnel**! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017/20 "2001-09-28T01:38:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by winterhawk11 \* > \*\*H. Beam Piper (of “Little Fuzzy” fame): Niffleheim. > > In honor of this, I have been referring to the overuse of pet words in fiction as “Niffleheim Syndrome” since sometime in the mid '80s. \*\* I loved those books, and I noticed that too :). But remember, it was their word for hell :). Except… how was it pronounced? I always said it 'Niff-ul-hime". Anyway, to be on topic… Me: However [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-pet-words/84017.md?page=2)