I must admit, the ‘Dear ladies’ stopped me from reading any further until I became curious to see what the ongoing discussion was about. Like Deb, I dislike being called either girl or lady. I'm neither.

However, let it pass.

The physiology of blenching is when an adrenalin rush causes blood to drain away from the peripheral circulation and into the major muscles – heart, limbs – the ‘fight-or-flight’ mechanism. This is felt in the digestive system too. His guts probably did go white and, although he wouldn’t have been able to see that, he would certainly have felt it.

Dee

‘Dear ladies’ stopped me from reading any further

Horror. Consider me chastened, Dee.

When I inspect my soul I find that I did it in the full knowledge that my idealised WW member was exactly the sort of person who would blench at that salutation.

Enough of that. Thanks for the biology lesson. I now feel adequately qualified to use the b word. Don't you think you have to get to know a word properly before you can bring it into your narrative? Only when you are close friends do you have the right to conjure it: when it's not just some word you've bumped into once or twice. Of course, anyone using blench, apart from Swifty of course, would look as if he were trying to impress. Shame really.

WW is populated by four clearly delineated consumer groups.

- huh?

No, no, no, I need to step well clear of that hole.
I'm trying to dig myself out with a subtle shift to the technique forum relevant topic of whether or not it is a good idea to use unusual words.

Like Poppy I was puzzled by your 'four groups' theory....

You might have to cough up now, Rod - having told us that much.

Deb

Greetings from the lounge at Rio airport. Three hours to think of an excuse.

Now I really know what the b word means. My guts turned white when I saw your message.

LOL!

Dear all,

Do you think it's okay to use rare words in your fiction, or do you blench at the thought? Do they add richness and precision? Do they appear showy and distract the poor reader? Perhaps it's okay if you make the meaning clear from the context so that the reader doesn't have to have a dictionary in the other hand. Perhaps you need to have a good reason for using the word. Whatcha think?

My guts turned white when I saw your message

LOL

Rod, I think your question about using rare words is like asking how long a piece of string is. Different words are rare to different people. Words which a Sun reader and a Guardian reader would class as rare would differ.

Some idiot I was having a conversation with the other day asked me what I meant by 'extrapolate' - I call him an idiot not because he doesn't know, which I suspect he does, but because he always claims he doesn't know the meaning of any word longer than about 6 letters. Some kind of inverse snobbery thing, I think.

I think the key thing is to understand your market - who you're aiming your words at - and then use words which add richness, but not too many they won't know, because that can be irritating. When I'm reading, I think the ideal is that words are used which I know but don't come across that often - so I am buoyed by their difference, freshness and aptness, but not confused by their meaning. I don't want to sit with a dictionary, but like to be stretched just a little.

Some people may like to be stretched more, and some want the easiest read imaginable and don't want reading to ever stretch them. I'm probably in the middle, I'd guess.

What do you write, and who would you envisage your typical reader to be?

Deb

Dear Deb,

Flight boarding any second, but here goes.

I love to learn new words when I read. I think of genustuprations in Murphy, which I remember from years ago; it still makes me chuckle. In my own work I want to use the full panoply that's out there for us.

They are announcing the flight. Soon I will be in the air and soon after in her arms. Bye for now.

In my own work I want to use the full panoply that's out there for us.

Will Self is the same, and he has his fans.


- NaomiM

I'd say the difference between blench and flinch is that one is pretentious and one isn't

I can't agree, Antarctic! It's great to use richness of language, and each different word has subtle overtones. And those two words don't mean quite the same.

Deb

I'm all for rich language and spend a lot of time choosing the right words, Debbie, but would probably have thought it was a typo and he meant 'blanch' LOL..

I couldn't possibly use blench in my writing. It has lost it's currency through overuse. From stranger to cliche in so few days - words are fickle.