Pet Peeves Regarding Terminology

[Elena 546]

@featherstone, I use boy and girl frequently (but sometimes I replace boy with lad, as I think it is better in English) and I have the same interpretation like you.

 

Because here the word can mean from preschool-aged, to Uni-aged or recently graduated, carefree youth, while calling him a "man" would mean already... bragging at that age. He might call himself a man, if he is Uni-aged or recently graduated, but only when he has something to prove to others, arrogantly. This way I said "bragging". "I am already a man because I got married/ I am supporting a family/ I enrolled in the army."  / "How come you are a man already? You are still wet at your mouth!"

 

I think it is the same in Spanish, they use "chico, chica" at highschool and Uni age too, I heard in telenovelas.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Elena

[jenneral_jennson 154]

I’m not bothered by words. I’m not bothered by the amount of times one uses a word in a post (this probably stems from the fact that just yesterday I used the word professional about twelve times in a paragraph) was or bothered by their use of different synonyms for a word.

 

Sometimes the simple word “laugh” doesn’t convey the emotion enough so you use a word like “giggle” or “guffawing”. They’re just words and I love words. I feel the same way about curse words. Just words (And please don’t go on a tangent about how words can be hurtful. I know full well how hurtful a well placed barb is). The use of “orbs” or the like might earn a giggle at your expense from me but it doesn’t bother me enough to get excited about it. I just carry on and write.

 

I’m not there to criticize or get all up in arms about a way a person writes. If they want to call their 19 year old boy (I will continue to call a 19 year old a boy until they prove that they are adult enough to be called a man. I don’t care what your age is, if you act like a child you will be called a child) a boy then by all means who am I to complain about it? I’m there to have a good time and if it bothered me that badly then I have the wrong hobby.  

 

 

[Quell 249]

I use all the one-word descriptors or "other ____" to try to differentiate characters of the same gender in the same scene. Because English is a pronouns mess. We barely have reflexive pronouns and we certainly don't have things like middle voice so we can't say "he put his hand in his hair" in a romantic scene without it being unclear if he's moving someone else's hand to himself, rearranging someone to touch his own head, touching someone else's head, or touching his own head. -hard stare at English-

 

Anyway, on topic.

I get driven bonkers by people mentioning their character's age or occupation repeatedly, unless it is important to the scene. Like... If you're actively making a cake or giving suggestions, the fact that a character is/was a baker is irrelevant to the shoot out we're having.

I also hate "because" used in the weird casual way it's used right now.  And I have caught myself doing it recently. Ugh. I don't know how to explain it... but if I see it one something soon I'll grab an example.

[Uaithne 543]

@featherstone I don't know whether these people are native English speakers or not.  It happens frequently enough that it's a fair chunk of the roleplaying population that does this, and I doubt that they are all ESL.

 

The issue isn't quite so much with where to draw the dividing line between "boy" and "man" but how it affects the flow of the narrative.  Most roleplayers do a moderately close narrative.  The words they choose can draw the reader out of what they're writing, however, and that's the part that gets me.  I was actually taught this in a creative writing class (I used to do it myself) so that's probably why I notice it.

 

It's the same sort of concept when it comes to using a closer narrative and then sticking in some omniscient phrase.  If Bob's posts are about Bob's thoughts and feelings and actions and perceptions of the world, it wouldn't make sense to suddenly incorporate ideas and concepts that are mentioned in Susan's internal narrative, nor would it make sense to start talking about what's going on in other parts of the city.  Does that make sense?  I'm trying to keep it brief so that I'm not getting the thread entirely off topic, so I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job at explaining it. XD

 

Regardless, I don't correct people who do this, and most of the time I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid them.  (If I was borderline on joining a site and I saw writers who did that, I probably wouldn't join.  But it isn't something that on its own would keep me from participating.)  I understand that everybody roleplays for fun and people have different linguistic backgrounds.  As odd as it sounds, how somebody writes is only one piece of many when it comes to roleplaying.

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by Uaithne
I can't spell.

[Sophie Hatter 38]

On 10/6/2017 at 8:26 PM, Dragon said:

I know this is a bit of a personal peeve for many writers, because overusing any single word is generally considered bad form even though in many cases there aren’t an abundance of options. For example, “said” is probably one of the most prolifically disliked terms in the writing world. 

 

 

i hate the campaign against said. "said is dead." it's not! said is a perfectly fine word to use most of the time. it's a peeve of mine when i can tell people are trying to avoid using said and instead use words that don't work as well. 

 

bring back said. but also use action tags, and mix it up a little.

[Huskerdust 625]

I love the word said and will use it over those annoyingly out of place tags any day. I don't know, man, but every time I see "she screamed" or "he explained" I feel like the writer is an amateur or a children's book author teaching children new words. It just rubs me the wrong way. 

 

I'm not saying don't use them at all. There's always a great time to use them. I like a good whisper, hiss, or seethe. But please. Not every dialogue tag needs to reach for a different term every single time. 

[Josie 198]

I can honestly say that I can't. . . think of a single word or phrase that others use which bothers me consistently. There are times when someone might write something about my character that I find irritating, but that tends to be more because the person assumed something about them instead of asked me.

 

Personally though, I catch myself reusing a lot of the same phrasing and whatnot (like "said"). I tend to do it because I'm just. Tired lol. I write like 20 posts a day at minimum most of the time, and sometimes I can't be bothered to spruce everything up as much as I'd like. 

[Elena 546]

I hate the terms "Mun" and "Muse" or "puppet" instead of writer and character, and "sim" instead of "RPG". The character is not a muse, neither a puppet - it's just a person from a story.

 

I don't like (not hate, but neither use) the term "player" either. It's writer or member. And if it would be after my wishes, instead of RPGs/ roleplaying I'd call it simply "collaborative/ interactive writing". Because this is what it is, and it would help more with people understanding. I wouldn't be asked again to see how my ships battle one another (many thought it was a videogame, not a story), neither think about bedroom games instead, or play pretend.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Elena

[jenneral_jennson 154]

2 hours ago, Elena said:

 "collaborative/ interactive writing". 

 

When I interview for jobs I use this terminology to explain what I mean by “RPing for a hobby/relaxation”. You would be surprised by how many prospective employers appreciate the level of team work/building ability it takes to do so.

[Morrigan 1,826]

I found one!

 

Till instead of until or even 'til. Till is a completely different word here people. RAWR!

[jenneral_jennson 154]

57 minutes ago, Morrigan said:

I found one!

 

Till instead of until or even 'til. Till is a completely different word here people. RAWR!

 

It’s the thing you put money in! Mine is spelling definitely as defiantly instead. 

[CovertSphinx 710]

It's completely because of my profession, but I can't STAND it when people call a casket a "coffin". Granted his happens more in RL than it does in TL (thread life) as most vampires I encounter are old enough that reasonably WOULD have a coffin instead of a casket lol. It doesn't make it any less annoying though. 

[Morrigan 1,826]

8 minutes ago, CovertSphinx said:

It's completely because of my profession, but I can't STAND it when people call a casket a "coffin". Granted his happens more in RL than it does in TL (thread life) as most vampires I encounter are old enough that reasonably WOULD have a coffin instead of a casket lol. It doesn't make it any less annoying though. 

 

You'd think a vampire would upgrade in this day an age. Cheap bastards.

[Elena 546]

1 hour ago, CovertSphinx said:

It's completely because of my profession, but I can't STAND it when people call a casket a "coffin". Granted his happens more in RL than it does in TL (thread life) as most vampires I encounter are old enough that reasonably WOULD have a coffin instead of a casket lol. It doesn't make it any less annoying though. 

 

What's the difference? I learnt the word coffin too for funerary things. Casket (or rather casquette) would be a certain cap official uniforms have - a pilot's, a police officer's...

[Icewolf 258]

On 10/21/2017 at 8:55 PM, Elena said:

I hate the terms "Mun" and "Muse" or "puppet" instead of writer and character, and "sim" instead of "RPG". The character is not a muse, neither a puppet - it's just a person from a story.

 

I don't like (not hate, but neither use) the term "player" either. It's writer or member. And if it would be after my wishes, instead of RPGs/ roleplaying I'd call it simply "collaborative/ interactive writing". Because this is what it is, and it would help more with people understanding. I wouldn't be asked again to see how my ships battle one another (many thought it was a videogame, not a story), neither think about bedroom games instead, or play pretend.

The word mun annoys me, too and I didn't even know what it meant when I first came across it. It sounded silly to me and still does.