Fanfiction is lenient on experimentation. Some of the best stories I read were very creative in writing styles.

 

You are really dug yourself a grave there, Insane Juggler. And who exactly made you the international master of nomenclature? You should write your own dictionary or maybe a thesaurus... I can see it now.

Happy
synonyms - XD

Does anyone else get pissed off at the "Word of the Day" things where you actually know ALL of the words and use them in day to day conversation?

English language Pet Peeve #2976 - "As soft as a baby's bum."

Whoever uses this is a real pedo.

And let's not forget...

"Mione"

 

When a story/chapter begins with; "It was a dark stormy night..."

 

I hate it when people say "... , isn't it?" "... , don't you think?" "... , doesn't it?"

Please stop using these everyove. Leave them to the Japanese. You'll probably only get that if you can speak Japanese.

 

I'm not sure what you are referring to here, but if you mean what I think you mean, then that kind of usage is fairly prevalent in India as well. For example, "It's very hot today, isn't it?" "We should meet up tomorrow, don't you think?" "That looks like our old school, doesn't it?", in everyday conversation.

Were those the situations you were referring to? If so, they are more common than you might think. If not, then ignore the post.

As for overused phrases, the lopsided grin, the smirk, the Slytherin tendencies and the nonsensical nicknames are the worst as far as I am concerned, especially since they usually go hand in hand...

 

Sun-kissed.

FFS, if you really want to describe hair colour, don't write something that makes me think of a charred corpse.

 

There are fanfictions out there where the author writes in a way so that Hermione ends almost everything she says with "don't you agree?" or something similar.

And as for the reference to Japan; in the Japanese language when you invite someone to something you end it with a negative query.

For example.

"Won't you come to the party?" - Japanese (translated obviously)

"Paati wa ikimasenka?" - Japanese in romanji. Romanji is Japanese written with the English language. I had to use it since I don't have a software for writing with real Japanese script.

"Will you come to the party?" - English

That's it. I wasn't being racist. If my previous post did seem to be then I apologize.

 

Ah, I see. No, wasn't saying you were being racist, just saying that those kind of situations do occur.

And, again, "Won't you come to the party?" is said quite often, and not always in a cajoling tone to someone who has refused, as might be the case in British/American English. Often enough, I have heard that turn of phrase used as the default. So, yes, my point still stands. Again, no offense taken, just pointing something out.

 

^ No, it's not quite the same thing in the English language. In English it is a turn of phrase. But in Japanese there is no other way to invite someone.

At this point I'm really hoping there isn't anyone who is fluent in Japanese on this forum because I've only been learning for a couple of years and I don't want to get caught up in a debate about it. I'm no expert.

I hate it when people use the Golden Trio in fanfiction. It's for use in forums and places like that. Outside of writing. It would be like Harry refering to Dumbledore as the leader of OotP.

 

'DADA' used in casual conversation between people. "Let's go to DADA." sounds like something the mother of a toddler would say to it about them going to her husband.

 

I always read that as 'D.A.D.A.', actually. Saying Dada just sounds ridiculous.

 

"Dee-yay, dee-yay." Sounds like a footie chant.

 

Hairy/Harry and Serious/Sirius is not funny. Do not want.

 

I don't think I've ever actually seen that...

Agreeing with turtle7's remark about smirks though. When used by Slytherins or evil characters in particular.

 

Actually, saying dada sounds like they're talking about an artistic movement.

 

Yeah. But then I always thought it was a retarded name for an artistic movement too, even if it's on purpose. DADA just looks like the author is being lazy. Students would probably call it "Defence" or something. "Dee-yay dee-yay" doesn't only sound stupid, it's not even practical to say.

Something that I see more from posters on the forums than in fanfiction: "said (person/object)". In particular when said poster seems thinks it makes him/her sound smart.

 

Smirk
Smiled
Laughed
Moaned / Groaned
Sighed

In fanfiction, authors misuse these words. They quickly become stale. When words become stale, they become harder to imagine. While "simpler" words might seem attractive (such as smile) and words a step above (smirk) might also seem attractive... truly, either of these ways to describe the feeling of an emotion are hardly a step above saying, "Harry is happy." (as a rule of thumb, it's generally not a good idea to say what your characters are feeling exactly). Emotion such as disgruntledness, happiness, anxiety et cetera are best served with the use of metaphor or exaggeration, in my view.

Volupturous
Really
Honestly
Truly

Volupturous describes half of the women I read in fanfiction or amateur fiction. It's annoying. Maybe not as present in HP ff (considering the avg. age of most of the characters).

Honestly, Truly really are honestly the most abused adverbs ever, truly (see what I did there?).

Interesting / Boring

I think anyone who uses these words – even common speech – should evaluate what they really mean. The way they're used is usually harmless, but it can be really irksome.

Any conjuctions similar to however, thus, therefore, because

Depends on the context, but it can make good imagery too plastic.

All of these words can be used well, but... it takes good editing to pick the right word.

 

I think he means Voluptuous.