This may sound strange, coming from someone who writes erotic romance, but there are several words I don't like to use, and certainly would NOT have them come out of my mouth!
Words I've Written, But Sparingly:
-Cunt
-Pussy
-Tits
-basically anything with a derogatory context for race, women, private parts, or people in general. I have written a few, but only if I end up with a character who uses them.
I'm also not a fan of certain euphemisms; I once saw a post full of weird ones that I can't even recall them now, unless it is meant to be funny, as in the case of Spinal Tap:
"My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo; I'd like to sink her with my pink torpedo..."
"My love gun's loaded and she's in my sight; big game's waiting there inside her tights...."
"Sex farm woman don't you see my silo risin' high...high....high..."
Words I Hope To Only Use Once Per Book:
-Smirk
-Murmur
This is only because of a Certain Book Which Shall Not Be Named, because they are in nearly every damn paragraph on every damn page!
Word I've Said In Anger, But Not All The Time:
-Fuck
Unless I'm seeing red from anger, this word usually does not come out of my mouth, even when it's in a song. When She Hates Me by Puddle of Mud came out several years back, I realized I was singing every word, and even inserting it when the radio didn't! Plus, it was creeping into every day language more and more, so I decided to purge it from my vocabulary.
Until I started reading and writing erotic romance.
Yes, there are some of my books where it is prolificly used....but I will say 'freaking' or even 'frickin' instead.
Unless, of course, you have me so mad I slip up!
What words make YOU cringe? To find out more, go here.
7 comments:
I don't like using cunt/pussy etc in description. I know many encourage authors to do so, but they still jar me when I'm reading them. And for me, it has nothing to do with an erotic scene. I just think as an author I don't want to use them. However, I do or would use these words (and other salty language) for dialogue when the words fit the character's speech.
I'd rather the author use the salty words that some view as obscene in a love scene rather than some ridiculous euphamism. I don't like the C word at all. If the author drops the F-bomb too often, I won't continue reading either. That is just cheap and tawdry writing.
I agree with your comments about the book that shall not be named - those words now make me cringe.
@Ellie: I agree with you there....I once stopped reading a book simply because there were too many F-bombs in the 1st chapter. For god's sake, people....use another cuss word!
In response to Molly's wish writers would use a different cuss word than fuck: Many of my books are futuristic romances, so I invent swear words. For example, in a post-apocalyptic trilogy, my tough-woman heroine uses words like maggoty, cockroaches, slimy, etc -- words that reflect the world she's grown up in. My MFRW.
I swear a lot, often at my computer when it acts up. Like when the program crashes mid-edit and I didn't save frequently enough. At those times anything could come out of my mouth. Its great that there are no witnesses. LOL
LOL on smirk and murmur.
I still struggle with sex scenes when trying to find the right words to use. I don't use the euphemisms, but now I want to write a scene where my MMC does. Like having the men name their privates. LOL
I've had to personally watch my cussing because I have little people running around that used to love to pick up on mommy's more colorful language. I got creative in what I said, but I still slip up, especially now that they are older and know they can't repeat what mommy says. I have my characters cuss, but they don't do it often.
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