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Yeah, I was also taught the silly rule in school that you shouldn't say "said" all the time. I don't know where it comes from, but texts that use this rule exte

Yeah, I was also taught the silly rule in school that you shouldn't say "said" all the time. I don't know where it comes from, but texts that use this rule extensively just read like what a schoolkid would write, not an actual author. The point of careful and nuanced words is that you should use them where it matters. In many cases, especially in prose, it doesn't and "said" is more than enough. (oh and also, despite its flowery language at times, Homeric language is full of repetitive turns of phrases too)

OJFord 4y ago
> despite its flowery language at times, Homeric language is full of repetitive turns of phrases too Absolutely, as I understand it that's believed to be a direct result of it being passed down orally, a technique for memorisation. I just meant that the dialogue is generally colourfully exclaimed, never merely 'said'; though plenty of those individual words even (for describing how it's.. said) are repeated endlessly. Though, I've only read one English translation, so I did hesitate to draw the comparison. I assume no respectable translator would start 'flowering up' a text like that if it did hypothetically say the equivalent of 'said' all the time though.