Bon, that is strange! I have read all of Faye Kellerman’s books and she frequently uses the phrase,,”He blew out air.” Why not just say he sighed? She uses it enough to be distracting to me.

Donna

I once read the most dreadful self-published novel I found when I cleaned out my late mother’s house. The author constantly referred to the former partner of the protagonist as her ”paramour” every.freaking.time.

There was much else wrong with this farrago but that one made me want to hurl the book across the room.

Similarly I once read a self-published autobiography (it was written by a pioneer farmer in our district so I was reading it for historical information), where on every second or third page the writer concluded an episode with something along the lines of, ”Oh well, such is how things go.” Oh for an editor. I wanted to scream.

Yoyo, I expect that she was thinking of the dashing movie pirates who thrilled me around the 50's and not the murderous thugs they probably were in real life!

I don't usually wince at words the authors I read choose but it annoys me when they mix up "prevaricate" with "procrastinate". This happens far too often in TV scripts as well.

Another mix up that is annoying to me is " anxious to see/do that...." vs " eager to see/do that"

Anxious to me is fearful.

Eager is happily anticipating.

Frequently.

And sometimes even with justification. But other times I am just being picky.

One English writer, usually at least once per chapter, describes someone slurping/sipping/swigging a glass of beer, cup of tea or coffee. No need for this extra beverage-related information.

Another, a writer of 'light' romances has her characters making endless pots or cups of tea/coffee or opening and pouring bottles of wine. We are left awash with liquid.

I cannot remember the name of the book or the author, but I clearly remember she repeatedly used the word spavined. After looking it up, I thought was completely unnecessary and I found it distracting each time it appeared again.

Sheri, sometimes I want the Facebook HaHa symbol to be available here. When I read your comment, I actually guffawed.

(But at least it didn't leave me spavined.)

Sheri, I would be willing to bet the author that used "spavined" repeatedly was the late Anne Rivers Siddons! I read many of her books years ago and was much irritated by seeing that word in every one of her novels!

Woodnymph, it might have been! I truly can't remember.

Diana Gabaldon is not the only one, but she uses this phrase a lot.

'X let out the breath she didn't know she was holding'

Pirates were thought of as roguish bad boys, think Johnny Depp. yes yes, actual pirates are/were blood-thirsty thugs.

I'm reading The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins and I tripped, stumbled and fell flat when I read this sentence :

"Grace was proud her little sister was able to keep the muck of their life from splattering onto her smiles."

And on the same page she described a house as having " a cacophony of flowers in the yard. "

Where are the proof-readers or editors ??

Bon, I prefer my flowers to be quiet, don’t you?

We have bought property in north FL where we will soon be building a home. The other day we got the annual letter from the HOA and in asking everyone to keep up with the yard work they said we all want to keep our lots looking descent. ???

Donna

we all want to keep our lots looking descent

How that word works in this context is the widespread practice of stripping often previously forested lots bare and covering them with lawns and paving is a significant contribution to the ongoing shared descent into an ecological apocalypse.

Now there is one decent WORD SALAD !!

Could my garden be a gradual descent? I am living on a low hill...

Last fall mine seemed to be descending into a weed patch.

Carolyn, A poem by Ian Emberson declares that "A Weed is a Flower Growing in the Wrong Place". The soil is so poor and dry at my place that I rarely have weeds.

Make a country and sunbake it for millions of years...

@msmeow, one wonders what an ”indecent” yard might look like.

Reminds me of a time years ago when I was in a choir which was performing in the local Town Hall, with the husband of one of our members as MC. We were in the changerooms when the husband called through the door, ”Are you decent, ladies?” I replied, ”John, I am always decent, but whether I am clothed or not is another issue.”

In a brochure promoting the woman's auxiliary for the Knights of Columbus in our church this sentence caused a few chuckles:

" The women in the auxiliary are always ready to provide service for the Knights."