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Monday, April 6, 2009

Poll Results 30

This was the question:

Do you accept this? "I wish you wouldn't do that," she grated.
Yes 48 (50%)
No 47 (49%)

I'm surprised that this many people accepted "grated" as a synonym for "said." As far as I know from looking in the dictionary, "grate" means "shred" as in cheese, not speak in an annoyed manner.

I read this kind of sentence in a fairly bad mystery and its sequel. It certainly grated on my nerves. I won't be buying any more books by this author. I encourage you to avoid using this word for "said."
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1 comment:

From My Hands to Yours said...

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she grated.

It would be so easy to improve this sentence: "I wish you wouldn't do that," she said. Her shrill voice grated on my nerves, and I felt my jaw muscles clinch. Would 25 years of hearing that vocal-cords-on-blackboard voice make it self-defense?

April 13, 2009 at 11:40 AM

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