Grammar Quirks: Brian Panowich on Dialogue and Dialect

Grammar Girl: What’s your favorite word and why?

Brian Panowich: “Deddy.”

Not Daddy, or Dad, or Father, but Deddy. It’s so uniquely Georgian and doesn't sound funny or odd coming from the mouth of either a child or a woman or a full-grown man. It was, and still is, the spark of great debate on panels I’ve attended and at lectures of mine, because I intentionally use the misspelling in my books. At least the characters I write about from Georgia do. But dialect is integral to my writing so it’s a war I always win. Or at least I like to think so. Even if an academic-type tries to bombard me with reasons why I’m not allowed to abuse the rules of grammar or manipulate the English language anyway I choose, and believe me, I do get accused of that often, I know that just my arguing the point, makes my “Deddy” proud.

GG: What’s a word you dislike (either because it’s overused or misused) and why?

BP: “Furrowed” and “Pursed”

I’ve been guilty of using them both before, so I’m not claiming to be all-wise or perfect in any way. It’s also not because they are both overused—although they are. It’s because of this…

“He furrowed his brow as he looked over the documents.” Or “She pursed her lips while her husband spun more of his nonsense.”

Who talks like that?

I’ve never had anyone point out to me that my brow was furrowed or told not to purse my lips. I’ve had folks ask me, “What’s that face about?” or “I can tell by that look, you’re not down for all this.” But furrowing and pursing are lazy words to describe actions or expressions that the right bit of dialogue can handle much better. Those two words sound like “writing” and suck me right out of a story.

I’m going to throw in “zesty” too. Because no one on earth says the word zesty unless they are reading the side of a Cheez-it’s box.

“Wow, baby, this baked chicken and pasta you made tonight is really zesty….” Um, no.

GG: What word will you always misspell?

BP: Necessary.

It’s totally Nessi…Nesa…dammit…Necesaray…AGGGGGG…necessary…for me to spell that word wrong at least three or four times before I remember the dang “c”. That word lives in the broken part of my brain.

Learn the rules. Sit down in the chair. Forget the rules. And finish the damn thing.

GG: What word (or semblance of a word) would you like to see...

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