Apropos of nothing except a book I read recently: If you have a child or teen character in your manuscript, please, please, do not describe the child as a "youngster," as in "The youngster grinned as wide as the Mississippi while he licked his ice-cream cone." Nothing says "I am watching/describing this kid from the outside rather than getting into his head, feelings, and concerns" -- or more simply, "I am out of touch with real children"-- than the word "youngster." ("Youth" is also dangerous, but not quite as egregious.) In fact, I would go so far as to say that if the word appears anywhere in your manuscript other than perhaps the dialogue of an elderly character who is not sympathetic to children (but then who really says "youngster" in conversation? Really?): Delete it. Eggh.
This has been a public service announcement from Editors Against Thesaurus Abuse.*
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* We were going to add "for the Sake of Word Variation, Especially When It Conflicts with a Believable or Even Readable Voice" -- but it wouldn't fit on our business cards. If you have a better acronym, let us know.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
A Pet Peeve in Passing
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Thank you. Whenever I see/hear "youngster" I think the writer/speaker must be around 100 years-old and driving a Model T Ford.
ReplyDeleteWhen I post in my teacher/personal blog, I alternate between "student", "child/children", "kids" and "teens/teenagers". Any suggestions; does that sound adult but not geezer-ish?
ReplyDeleteOh, dang. *find and replace. find and replace*
ReplyDeleteHow about "whippersnapper"?
Just this week I came across a mid-grade novel in Barnes & Noble that used the term "youngsters" on the jacketflap to describe a group of friends. That phrase stuck out horribly to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a new release.
No, it wasn't trying to sound old-fashioned.
- Jay
I agree.
ReplyDeleteI use "child."
I think the only time the word "youngster" is okay is when Oprah announces your book on her book club and she says, "This book is loved by youngsters of all ages. Buy it!"
ReplyDeleteBut in the text of the book... yuck! The author needs to retire.
"This has been a public service announcement from Editors Against Thesaurus Abuse.*" got a pre-coffee snort cackle out of me.
ReplyDeleteOur kid was babbling around the house this morning using the words, "a juvenile" to describe "teen". I think it comes from Jurassic Park, as in "the juvenile TRex.” “He’s not a baby anymore, he’s a juvenile.”
Marilyn.
Youngster is out so what do you think of tween?
ReplyDelete"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule."
ReplyDeleteStephen King, "Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully - in Ten Minutes", 1988
Cool, I will remember that the next time I write something.
ReplyDeleteActually, in fiction, I think you should try to avoid any sort of "the < noun for character >"-type statements in reference to your main characters (this is all in third-person voice) -- "the girl looked up," "the boy cried." It distances us from the main character because we're looking at him/her from the outside, not looking at events from his/her perspective. But if you do use such a device, use nouns kids would use themselves -- kid, boy, and girl. "Tween," I think, is out.
ReplyDeleteWhat about "precocious little shaver?"
ReplyDeleteAs an employee of "tween brands" I think that you'll find abbreviations are good...BFF, BIL, etc...
ReplyDelete