How do you feel about uncommon words?

[SpecterNecter]

I am currently reading a story with quite a few interesting words. The latest being 'penumbra'. Personally, I like a word here and there I need to look up, but I think it is off-putting if there are too many.

 

[alohadave]

Write how you write, not to a reading level. If penumbra is the right word, use it.

Anyone reading has the capability to look up words they don't know.

 

[SpecterNecter]

Write how you write, not to a reading level. If penumbra is the right word, use it.

Anyone reading has the capability to look up words they don't know.

My point was looking up many can be too taxing.

 

[Bamagan]

I occasionally get a complaint from someone because of word choices like that. The threshold of how much is too much is highly variable for different readers, so I don't worry about it very much. If my vocabulary is too complex or too simple for someone's personal tastes, so be it. That being said, sure, a person could be deliberately trying to make their story inaccessible to broad swathes of the audience by using the most obscure synonyms available, or relying on anachronistic terminology, or highly localized dialects and phonetic approximations of the speech mannerisms. Whether it seems more immersive or oppressive is anyone's guess.

 

[TheLobster]

Uncommon words can only become more common if we use them more. Avoiding it will only contribute to the issue, if it's indeed one, that some readers are unfamiliar with them.

 

[Voboy]

I would never use an uncommon word just for the sake of it being uncommon, unless I was putting it into the mouth of a character (or narrator) I wanted the reader to view as pedantic. Word choice is one of those subtle ways you can describe characters without having to actually describe characters.

But in general, there's a reason uncommon words are uncommon. I'll definitely use them when they're the ideal term for a difficult concept, and "penumbra" is a good example... but in general I want to inconvenience my readers as little as possible.

 

[StillStunned]

I would never use an uncommon word just for the sake of it being uncommon, unless I was putting it into the mouth of a character (or narrator) I wanted the reader to view as pedantic. Word choice is one of those subtle ways you can describe characters without having to actually describe characters.

But in general, there's a reason uncommon words are uncommon. I'll definitely use them when they're the ideal term for a difficult concept, and "penumbra" is a good example... but in general I want to inconvenience my readers as little as possible.

I agree entirely. If I need to use a word like "penumbra", or "caldera", or "zygote", or "paranymph", then I will. But my basic philosophy is that the words should enhance the reader's experience, not interfere with it. There's just as much beauty in plain everyday words, and they often fit the flow of the sentence better.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't use them just to use them, but I don't avoid them. If the right word in a situation is an uncommon word, I'll use it. As a reader, I don't mind having to hunt for a dictionary once in a while, as long as I don't feel like the author is making me do it just to do it.

 

[SpecterNecter]

I will use a synonym so as to not use the same word in a sentence or near the same word. As an example I wouldn't use the word scared twice close together. I would use frightened the second time. I'm not really sure why but it seems uncouth to me otherwise.

 

[yowser]

For me it depends on the author's purpose. If trying to be too 'literary' then it's off-putting (particularly if excessive.) But if an uncommon or technical word illuminates some aspect of the character or plot (and isn't followed by a barrage of 'how smart I am as an author' jargon) then that's fine.

I had one comment from a reader:

You had me at "incanabula"

 

[Comshaw]

I love uncommon words, ones I have never encountered or ones I've forgotten about ($%#@^&* aged memory!) but the one prerequisite for me to use them is they have to "taste" good in use. That sounds funny but it's the only way I can describe how it feels when a word just fits. Some don't. They feel harsh and out of place when used as they should be. Others though just feel right, like that perfect sauce on your food.



Comshaw

 

[MillieDynamite]

When I use unusual words, I try to make it easy to figure out what they mean. Either by it done in dialog (the first time at least) and someone else using the more common word that means the same thing in responce. Or by the way, it is used, giving a clue as to what it means.

 

[THBGato]

I do like to vary my vocabulay, but try to do so in a way that means readers should be able to work out from context the rest of the sentence. As a result, I tend to focus on adjectives. E.g "sloe black" (I was in a Dylan Thomas mood). I don't think it matters if you don't know what a "sloe" is to understand this description of someone's hair colour.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I use swarthy complexion for black characters at times. I got an email asking me what swarthy meant, and I answered dark.

 

[SpecterNecter]

So 'le chic'

 

[TarnishedPenny]

My point was looking up many can be too taxing.

Quite so, but I am writing for what I sometimes think of as an ideal reader. To me, that's somebody with a certain degree of literacy, above-average sensitivity and a strong imagination. To that degree, I guess I'm a writing snob. I could, and have, written much simpler, shorter tales, but am trying to move towards what I flatter myself to think of as a more sophisticated style. I don't deliberately throw in $64 words, but I won't dodge them either when they are appropriate.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I use swarthy complexion for black characters at times. I got an email asking me what swarthy meant, and I answered dark.

I don't mind answering questions on the finer points of the English language from readers for whom it is a second language. I will however admit to being less than pleased by the lazy readers. 'Let Me Google That For You' has been used once or twice.

 

[Erozetta]

Excellent writers can insert an uncommon word in a way that the context around the word makes its meaning easy to decipher.

I am not an excellent writer, so I stick to writing at a conversational level. (If I can't pronounce it, I probably won't use it.) I use uncommon words at times, but only if that's the word that best fits.

 

[Comshaw]

I don't mind answering questions on the finer points of the English language from readers for whom it is a second language. I will however admit to being less than pleased by the lazy readers. 'Let Me Google That For You' has been used once or twice.

BAHAHA! Excellent! Like a turd delivered in a silk bag.

Comshaw

 

[SpecterNecter]

Excellent writers can insert an uncommon word in a way that the context around the word makes its meaning easy to decipher.

I am not an excellent writer, so I stick to writing at a conversational level. (If I can't pronounce it, I probably won't use it.) I use uncommon words at times, but only if that's the word that best fits.

I imagine most readers will just press on not really caring what the word means anyway, excellent author or not.

 

[DanDelaware]

Sometimes you write yourself into a corner where only an uncommon word will do. Heck, that happens when I'm talking and it sometimes results in eye rolls.

 

[Voboy]

Sometimes you write yourself into a corner where only an uncommon word will do. Heck, that happens when I'm talking and it sometimes results in eye rolls.

I once used "destitute" in a sentence, around several people who should have known what it meant. They all just looked at each other.

 

[MrPixel]

I once used "destitute" in a sentence,

Isn't that a working girl who doesn't turn enough tricks to pay the bills?

My uncommon word of the day is "solipsistic" - when a person does not understand or acknowledge the world outside of their self-centered bubble.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

While it may take a certain perspicacity to not become overwhelmed by the sesquipedalian prose of some authors, Verbosity in and of itself, is not something I personally eschew.

 

[ronde]

Dialogue in a story should use the commonly used words for the time period, location, and the characters. It's find for a character to use words that are uncommon today as long as they were common at the time. It's just my opinion, but a third person narrator should use words that are easy to read and understand by most readers. The exception I would make is words of a technical nature such as engineering or medical terms. When I used those words though, I usually have the narrator give an explanation that gives the reader an understanding of the word without taking away from the story, i.e., "The meter read ten ohms, not enough electrical resistance to cause the problem".

When I read a word that is rarely if ever used in conversation, I always picture the writer thinking, "I'll show them how smart I am", and then reaching for a thesaurus.