(no subject)
Nov. 13th, 2006 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_haloThe following word should be banned from fanfic forever: ministrations.
That's all.
(Seriously, it's a useless word. Has anyone used it well, in any context, ever?)
That's all.
(Seriously, it's a useless word. Has anyone used it well, in any context, ever?)
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-13 10:52 pm (UTC)(1384): 2 Cor. (Douce 369(2)) iii. 7-8 If the mynistracioun of deeth defformyd by lettris in stoones was in glorie..hou not more the mynistracioun of spirit schal be in glorie?
That's the earliest noted usage in the OED.
But when it's used in a sexual sense, instead of a pastoral sense, which is the most common correct usage, it's pretty gross, I'll admit.
Sorry. Never ask a language nerd. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-13 11:10 pm (UTC)I suspect it's never been used well in fanfic, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-13 11:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-13 11:59 pm (UTC)About 10 got skimmed, regarded as vaguely interesting, but soon went over the top and also got closed.
About 5 were good enough to actually read, but of those five, TWO were completely ruined by the author's use of the word "ministrations." Seriously, WHO DOES THAT? And these were the "better" fics, the ones I'd actually been reading instead of skimming.
(And about two fics were actual good stories that I enjoyed reading. Which further supports my theory that 90% of everything is crap.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 12:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 12:44 am (UTC)And 'elicited'. Who uses that? Seriously? It makes me whimper.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 01:36 am (UTC)Ah, but does it elicit a whimper from you? ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 01:38 am (UTC):-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 04:00 pm (UTC)Though at least "elicit" has legitimate uses outside of sex scenes. "Ministrations" just sucks everywhere.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 04:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 11:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-15 01:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 01:34 am (UTC)I won't do it again. Promise.
LOL.
Oh, and skimming the other comments, I think I use 'elicited' too. But possibly not in a sex scene. However, I've certainly used 'elicited' in RL conversations. Never heard that one as a pet peeve before.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 01:40 am (UTC)It's possible I'm being unreasonable here :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 01:45 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 04:02 pm (UTC)I think maybe it's a sign of an author being new to writing sex scenes. It's just one of those words that kind of gets grandfathered in, because mediocre sex scenes have been using it for years. But once you discover really high quality sex scenes, "ministrations" becomes unacceptable.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 03:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 05:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 07:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-14 11:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-18 11:18 pm (UTC)