composite words

[lobelia321]

As in whimpersigh, shiverslide and so forth.

The first time I read such words was in thejennabides fics so in my mind these are associated with her. Rightly or wrongly, she seems (to me) the inventor of them. When I read anyone else using them, I think, 'aha, thejennabides's influence'.

I used to like these words but now I'm sick of them. I used to think they were a nifty and even beautiful way to combine two sensations / emotions. Now I think they are a lazy way to avoid being precise. I now prefer to use one of the two words (decide: is he whimpering? or is he sighing?) or to separate them in the traditional way ('he whimpered, he sighed', 'he whimpered and sighed', whatever).

Do you knowunderstand what I meanintend? What are your thoughtsopinions on thisit?

Comments

[pippinspeach.livejournal.com]

I've done it a time or two, but will probably never do it again. Yet another one of those things that started out beautiful *applauds thejennabides and has started to become "look at me! I'm so creative!" ;)

[bunnysquee.livejournal.com]

i first noticed such composite words in ukcalico's fic and thought they were awesome. i think it's great if such words are part of the writer's style and fits the the sentence and action beautifully. if not, then it becomes awkward and pretentious.

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

I think they only work with a certain style of writing. [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] has a very idiosyncratic way of putting her sentences together, and the overall effect -at least for me- is very flowing and soft and breathless. In that context, the composite words just add to that effect. And they are in their own way, very precise. Not quite a whimper, not quite a sigh, maybe it started out as one and became the other? (don't try this at work *g*) When they're not used with specific intent though, they're just annoying.

I would never ever use them in my own writing- it's just not my style.

[eyebrowofdoom.livejournal.com]

Yesyep, overdoneoverused!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ming/]

If you're a) not Dear Jenn or b) not aiming for onomatopoeia, then ceaseanddesist!

[thejennabides.livejournal.com]

I think that, like any good thing, this device can be overused and misused. For example, in your last paragraph, you're deliberately doing both. ;)

There are, of course, times when such abuse is not intentional. Times when it is lazy, as well. But I don't think that's always the case.

In the "whimpersigh" example you used, my response is that he is both whimpering and sighing, that in doing both simultaneously he is not quite doing either, that is something else that I don't know a word for in the English language. So I elide the words into something new, and hope that sense I have in my mind, the sound and feeling of the whimper and sigh commingling, is thereby conveyed.

I have also used elided words to indicate actions so rapid as to feel simultaneous: for example, "slideshiftstroke." Well, is his cock sliding or is his body shifting or is his cock stroking inside the other's arse? All three, in actions that don't feel separate, and so the space separating the words has been removed.

This just my attempt at explaining how and why I use ellision (or combined words, as you term it). I certainly have no wish or intention to persuade anyone of its merits. So there you go, for whatever it's worth!

[airgiodslv.livejournal.com]

I agree, and I think that you in particular have used this device to splendid effect. When there is no one word for what you want, but when you need less than two, you can combine them. It gives the word a twist that makes it into something new, taken from the old. I think it's a beautiful form when used in internal lyric narrative, although better applied in some cases than in others.

[mandalaya.livejournal.com]

I like the device sometimes, and find it too precious at others. Sometimes it's a lovely, shocking combination of words that provides me with an image that would not be graceful to describe in other ways, like thumbkiss or kickwhimsy...given the examples that came to my mind, tonight it also helps if they have a "k" in them. The context is key as well.

I love how much you think about words. I have grown lazy in that, but I enjoy such discussions greatly!

[azewewish.livejournal.com]

I've used it a few times in some of my fics, but I'm not, on the whole, very fond of them. I think the only one I still actually like is slipslide, when in reference to kissing.

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

I'm very fond of this device still. To me, especially in Jenn's fics I guess, but certainly not limited to, it conveys a sense that the english language as it is does not suffice to portray the actions or emotions intended to be described. That something like a new language needs to be created to give them something that even remotely comes close to the meaning, not only semantically, but also emotionally.

Overused, anything and everything gets annoying.

Re:

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

What I meant to say, and I'm not sure I got it across properly, was that I was most fascinated about the shaping a language to your purpose, creating a new one even, if the story and the style in you demand it. I think the idea that language rules can be rewritten has an immense appeal to me. In the way that it's not the language that masters the artist, but the other way round.

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

In general, I agree with the laziness. It's imprecise and weakens the writing because of it. Of course, it depends on the specific piece and its requirements. It does create a certain tone and thus is a useful tool that can be used for a purpose.

Um, that's all I have to say. Verbosity, why hath thou forsaken me?

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

I think they've become a fandom fad, and the technique now strikes me as affected and irritating (although, like you, I rather enjoyed it when I first came across it). Personally, I can only remember one occasion on which I forced two words together that might have been happier had they remained apart, and even on that occasion I had the manners to insert a hyphen.

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

It's a technique that's acceptable in moderation, in a certain style of writing, but has become terribly commonplace. (James Joyce did it all the time, but that doesn't automatically confer the mark of Kulture on any fic that elides words!)

Sometimes there isn't a precise word (at least in English) for what one's trying to describe, and portmanteau words (wasn't that what Lewis Carroll called them?) can be very effective in foregrounding that imprecision. Other times, it's sheer laziness on the writer's part; or -- horribly common, I suspect -- unwillingness to expand and explore vocabulary.

Personally, I prefer to abuse punctuation in search of the desired effect: just as much of a crime.

Hmm, I need more icons.