Dirty Words & How To Use Them?

[Quasimodem]

There is something that has been bothering me ever me since I began trying to write erotica.
That is the use - and mixture - of terminology.

Within dialogue, I have no problem. I decide the personality of the speaker and from there, know what level of terms that character employs. How different characters refer to body parts, for example, can help differentiate one from the other, without the use of dialogue tags.

In first person POV, you can demonstrate a degree of hypocrisy - using euphemistic language when the character is speaking dialogue to impress some other character, while employing the bluntest, least complimentary terms in the story narration.

Or, the switch between an up-tight character who loses all pretensions within the throes of passion.

My problem arises in third person narration - the unknown, all seeing, disembodied observer - who is telling the story. Other than for effect, what level is most acceptable? I have read different stories that used all levels. When I encounter stories that vary clinical with perjorative or euphamistic with venacular terminology, it always seems to interfer with the flow of reading.

In narration, what level do you think is more acceptable, and do you think is it acceptable to vary them?




-{Level}------------{Male}-------{Female}-------{Action}------------------

Euphemistic-------- Manhood----- Honey Pot----- Make Love
Clinical------------- Penis---------Vagina---------- Copulate
Vernacular--------- Cock--------- Pussy----------- Screw
Pejorative---------- Dick*-------- Cunt------------ Fuck*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
I can not, at the moment, think of a pejorative for dick*, or fuck*.
Their pejorative connotations occur only when used in nonsexual situations.

 

[Ray Dario]

Oh boy, here he goes again

In my opinion!

Speaking of the narrator, the word selection of any story should be chosen to help convey the tone you want to set with that story. A rough and tumble gang-bang story would naturally be more vulgar than a romantic interlude story.

You're right about dialog. You MUST use language the speaking character would actually use. but as the narrator the words you use, your language, should be chosen carefully to convey the tone of the story.

Thanks for reminding me of this. I think I have some editing to do.

Ray

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Oh boy, here he goes again

In my opinion!

Speaking of the narrator, the word selection of any story should be chosen to help convey the tone you want to set with that story. A rough and tumble gang-bang story would naturally be more vulgar than a romantic interlude story.

And a very good opinion it is.

I would add that an author can think of the narrator as another character that needs to have an appropriate vocabulary and vernacular chosen by the author.

A narrator who "speaks" nothing but "finest kind" Oxford English can get boring very quickly.

 

[Axeltheswede]

dirty words

The best advice I ever received on this subject came from Whispersecret. "Pick your terms and stay with them".

Changing terms halfway through a story is jarring. I made that mistake once, at the end of a story. I was trying to have some fun. I called a woman's breasts "yabos", just for the hell of it.

I still get about one email a week on that. Sometimes the entire message is just "yabos?"

Lesson learned.

 

[Ray Dario]

I agree with Axel. Yet at the same time I have written a story that broke that rule. I did it intentionally.

It was written in 1st person and in the beginning the character spoke very crudely, but by the end of the story he had changed and so had his speech patterns.

I thought it worked well, but I did have one feedback which pointed it out and felt it was an error.

Ray

 

[Weird Harold]

I agree with Axel. Yet at the same time I have written a story that broke that rule. I did it intentionally.

It was written in 1st person and in the beginning the character spoke very crudely, but by the end of the story he had changed and so had his speech patterns.

I thought it worked well, but I did have one feedback which pointed it out and felt it was an error.

Ray

Question: was this First Person Present tense or First person Past tense?

I can see the narrator's speech patterns evolving in a present tense story without being jarring, but in past tense, it would bother me that the narrator was reverting to old speech patterns when talking about the past.

 

[Ray Dario]

Question: was this First Person Present tense or First person Past tense?

I can see the narrator's speech patterns evolving in a present tense story without being jarring, but in past tense, it would bother me that the narrator was reverting to old speech patterns when talking about the past.

It was past tense. I hadn't really considered your point before but I see it as valid. Still I think the change is subtle and gradual enough to not really be jarring. I'll have to go back and re-read the story with this in mind.

Ray

 

[Weird Harold]

It was past tense. I hadn't really considered your point before but I see it as valid. Still I think the change is subtle and gradual enough to not really be jarring. I'll have to go back and re-read the story with this in mind.

Ray

It's hard to guess whether any particular thing works or not without seeing it in context. On reflection I can think of a couple of context in which a narrator's voice and style might change when using past tense that would seem natural and not really be jarring or even noticeable.

I just wanted to make the point that when writing in past tense, most people don't really consider that the narrator is "speaking from the future" with all the knowledge learned since the events took place. That consideration applies to more than just the word choice, but includes inadvertent "fore-shadowing" (hinting at what is going to happen,) and other potential anachronisms.

 

[Guest]

Personally talking "dirty" doesn't do much for me. I do tend to stick to the dry and clinical terms in my writing.

I choose to do this by design. Most of my stories are of the "Femdom Lite - 1/3 Less Bondage" variety. About half of them are written from the female point of view.

For me part of the interest is of having an innocent, somewhat reluctant dominatrix as a main character. To have her talking like a WWII marine drill sergeant would ruin the effect.

Then again, I do try to put some realism into the stories. If a character hits his finger, he's not going to say, "gee willikers!"

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Re: Re: Oh boy, here he goes again

And a very good opinion it is.

I would add that an author can think of the narrator as another character that needs to have an appropriate vocabulary and vernacular chosen by the author.

A narrator who "speaks" nothing but "finest kind" Oxford English can get boring very quickly.

But wouldn't that make a great story for the Humor & Satire category?

"-Yes! she shouted. Copulate with me! Copulate with me with more vigour! And increased speed!"

 

[Couture]

I know someone said to stick with terms, but I choose not to. I usually start with calling a vagina sex. Then by then end of the story it's a cunt. Not really dirty or shocking if you overuse it.

 

[Whispersecret]

Couture, I can see how that would work. As a story gets steamier, perhaps the language does too. There are exceptions to every rule.

Not that what I told Axel is a Rule with a capital R.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

"Is sex dirty?

Only if you do it right."

 

[Octavian]

Although I recognise it has a legitimate place in an erotic story I cannot bring myself to use the word, "cunt".
The word just grates on me, I don't know why.

However I did manage to give a mention to my favourite soccer team, Arsenal. Now that does takes some doing!


____________________________________
“If you can keep your head, whilst all around are losing theirs, then you don’t understand how serious the problem is!”

My Stories: (sounds posh, but there’s only one!)

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=124740

 

[Melissa_A]

Ah, Octavian, you need to go see the Vagina Monologues!

You'll come out of there chanting "cunt! cunt! cunt! cunt!"

Well, my only story thus far is a true story where few words were spoken. The difficult thing for me is that my next one is also a true story, but both of these are things that didn't just happen yesterday. So I have the advantage that I'm making up dialog based on what my real friends talk like. When I finish up the fully fictional story I have brewing in my head, I'll probably have the characters talk like my friends too, just because that is familiar and moves along in a way that makes sense to me.

I'd probably have trouble writing a story with people who use slang different than me.

Thus I'll disclaimer, jesting aside, I pretty much never refer to myself as having a "cunt" either.

m

 

[Guest]

If, in order to build the tension or eroticism of a story, a writer doesn't use words like cunt until close to the end wouldn't that only leave options such as 'lurve tube, or even 'tuppence' (english euphamism) with which to begin a story. I doubt if I would read much further than the first paragraph or two.

 

[wildsweetone]

has anybody ever tried writing erotica without using 'dirty words'?

 

[Guest]

Something that drives me crazy........

I know I'm going to get beat about the head and shoulders for this.......by a lot of women writers I'm sure.


And yes.......<guys> tend to be a little more on the vulgar/pornographic side when they write. Ok, that's a given. And I DO enjoy a soft/sensual well-written story, that MOST women do tend to do a little better at than most guys. So............
that being said.

Ah hem: Gals? (And maybe a few guys too) there is more than one way to say PUSSY. Sure.......I know a few of you HATE the word cunt. OK, it has it's place in any story. (Especially when you're really, really aroused. Then I think "cunt" is very erotic and very sexy. Pussy is too. It's obviously a softer word, more friendly (pc?). BUT........what drives me nuts is to read a story, and every time you get a description of the female anatomy, it's pussy.......pussy........pussy.........pussy. Like I said, I love the word my self, enjoy saying it, reading it......(playing with it) of course. BUT.......PLEASE try and come up with different words to describe that very beautiful femine, sexy, fun to look at, fun to play with fun to feel.......pussy!

Another soft word for pussy? Try "quim". Now there's an oldie but a goodie!

 

[Whispersecret]

Here are some options: beaver, box, bush, cleft, crease, crevice, crotch, cunny, cunt, fuckhole, gash, genitals, glove, hole, mound, muff, opening, quim, slit, snatch, twat, vagina, vulva

Note these words are not all interchangable.

Also, you don't have to use a straight noun-for-noun substitution:

He pushed his finger farther inside her to verify her virginity...
His cock head throbbed as he nudged it in and out of her tight entrance.
As it was, her passage was very, very snug.
He grinned and insinuated himself in the steamy vee between her thighs.
Her cleft was slippery with her arousal, inviting him to slip a finger inside her.

 

[Guest]

Ah Whispersecret...........

Leave it to a VERY sensual woman to put things in perspective.

You've once again shown how to caress a sentence and make it all warm and slippery to enjoy reading.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=39666

I remain,

 

[kiki_kisses]

my piece

I'm favorable to becoming more and more frequent with adjectives towards the END of an erotica piece. Almost as you do when you're engaged in sexual encounters, only you do it with noises, etc.

For Example:
The young girl, dressed in her Catholic school uniform, seemed to sway her hips just the right amount to make my long, tasty dick pulsate slowly. It became faster and more alive when her soft voice asked an innocent question, "Do you know where the bathrooms are?" I nodded and began to walk the girl to where she belonged... she had no idea that meant on my dick, in the stall, with her tanned back against the cool tile.

-----

Not necessarily the best writing, since I just pulled it out of my ass - but towards the end using more adjectives tends to focus on the SEXUAL aspects. It's good to describe how people look, etc... but I've read some stories on here where people get so in depth on appearance and really slack off on the sex part. You have to find that perfect combination.

 

[39_Keeper]

not posting

[not posting

 

[SlickTony]

has anybody ever tried writing erotica without using 'dirty words'?

I've submitted the first part of a two-parter that I'd say was that kind of story.

 

[wildsweetone]

Hey SlickTony

What's your story title dear? I'd like to read it when it's posted.

 

[SlickTony]

What's your story title dear? I'd like to read it when it's posted.

Your wish is granted--it came out today. I called it "Survival, Part 1," and it was changed to Survival, Ch. 1 which I'm cool with. Happy reading!