2015 is the year I hope to have The Erotic Writer's Thesaurus out as an e-book. To whet your appetites, here is a list of some of the most overused words in erotica, with alternatives from the EWT.
ASS
We've talked about this before--several times, in fact. One would never know that there are dozens of interesting, artful, elegant, apropos synonyms for this most ubiquitous of words. It's not that "ass" isn't perfectly fine in the proper literary or historical context, but too many writers simply don't seem to be aware of the long list of possible alternates. Here is the entry from the upcoming e-book version of The Erotic Writer's Thesaurus. (Note the vertical arrangement of the synonym list, which makes it easier to locate words without the fatigue often encountered in horizontal listings.)
ASS (1)
(n)
(i.e. buttocks)
· ars (Brit.)
· arse (Brit.)
· Arsch (Ger.)
· ass cheeks
· ass-end
· backside
· badonkadonk
· bahookie
· beam
· beauts
· beautocks
· behind
· bim (Brit.)
· biscuits
· bogy (Brit.)
· bonbons
· booty
· bottom
· botty (Brit.)
· bubble butt
· bucket
· bum (Brit.)
· bum cheeks (Brit.)
· buns
· bunt (Brit.)
· bunt cake
· buttocks
· butt
· caboose
· can
· canister set
· cheeks
· chips
· chuff (Brit.)
· corybungus
(Brit., sl.)
· crumpet (Brit.)
· culo (Span.)
· cupcakes
· derrière (Fr.)
· double jugs
· duff
· duster
· Dutch dumplings
· English muffins
· fanny
· flankey
· flanks
· fud
· fundament
· fushy (Brit.,
sl.)
· glutes
· Gluteus Maximus (Clin.)
· haunch
· haunches
· heinie
· hind
· hind end
· hinder end
· hinders
· hiney
· honey rolls
· Hugh Jass
· hunkers
· hurdies (Brit.)
· jacksie (Brit.)
· jacksy (Brit.)
· jibs
· juff
· keester
· keister
· little Mary
· luds
· male tail
· meat pillows
· moon
· mud flaps
· nates (Brit.)
· patoot
· patootie
· posterior
· postern
· prat
· rear end
· rumble seat
· rump
· rumpus
· rumpus delecti
· saddle
· satchel
· scut
· seat
· seaterumpus
· sit-me-down
(Brit.)
· sitter
· sit-upon
· six
· smallers
· south end
· speedo-stuffers
· squatter
· stern
· sugar cookies
· tail
· the Greek side
· tuchis (Yd.)
· tuckus (Yd.)
· toosh
· tush
· tushy
· underside
THROBBING
HUGE
ROUND
PERFECT
Why must every huge, round, thick, perfect body part throb before, during, and after sex?
THROBBING
(adj)
· beating
· burning
· fluttering
· palpitating
· pitter-pattering
· pounding
· pulsating
· pulsing
· racing
· trembling
· vibrating
DAMN!
The word is used so much as to have lost all transgressive potency, let alone any power to offend. It is simply tiresome to read over and over whenever a heroine is pissed off at a man ("Damn him!") or whenever some minor frustration arises.
DAMN (1)
(v)
· condemn
· condemn to hell
· condemn to
perdition
· consign to
eternal flame
· convict
· doom
· doom for all
eternity
· judge
· send to hell
DAMN
(2) (expr., intensifier)
· all-beloved
· beloved
· bleeding
· bloody
· dang
· danged
· durn
· durned
· fucking (q.v.)
· god-damned
· god-forsaken
· gol-darned
· gol-durned
· gosh-darned
DAMNATION (n)
· eternal
punishment
· hell
· inferno
· netherworld
· perdition
· pit
· pit of hell
· punishment
· underworld
DAMNED
(1) (adj)
· bound for the
netherworld
· branded
· condemned
· condemned to
hell
· consigned to
hell
· consigned to the
flames
· doomed
· halfway to hell
· hell-bound
· judged
· in hell
· marked
· on the fast lane
to hell
DAMNED
(2) (expr.)
(see
DAMN (2))
DAMNABLE (adj)
· bothersome
· condemnable
· cursed
· curse-worthy
· disgusting
· disgraceful
· hellish
· outrageous
· profane
· shameful
· shocking
· tiresome
FRISSON
Once clever when employed sparingly by skilled writers, it seems everybody has recently latched on to this word, and opened it up to all sorts of amateurish outrage.
FRISSON
(n)
· quiver
· quivering
· quake
· shiver
· shivering
· tremble
· trembling
EVER
As in “it was like nothing she/he had ever known/experienced before . . .” Oh please!
Not much we can do about this, other than to figure out some other way of expressing this old. tired thought.
INCREDIBLE
or incredibly, unbelievable, amazing, or amazingly. We might do well to explore the possibilities of the ordinary . . .
INCREDIBLE
(1) (adj)
(i.e. not
credible, unbelievable)
· absurd
· beyond belief
· beyond
credibility
· dubious
· fictitious
· fishy
· inconceivable
· improbable
· mythical
· preposterous
· questionable
· strange
· suspect
· suspicious
· unbelievable (q.v.)
· unimaginable
· unlikely
· unreal
· unrealistic
INCREDIBLE
(2)
(adj)
(i.e.
extraordinary or wonderful)
· amazing
· astonishing
· astounding
· awe-inspiring
· extraordinary
· fabulous
· fantastic
· marvelous
· miraculous
· tremendous
· wonderful
HOT
Probably the single-most overworked word in all erotica. Here are a few alternate suggestions from EWT:
HORNY
(adj)
· amatory
· amorous (q.v.)
· aroused
· cock sick
· fired up
· full of desire
· full of lust
· hot (q.v. 2)
· hot for
· hot to trot
· lovesick
· on the make
· on the prowl
· randy
· sex hungry
· sexed up
· turned on
HOT
(1) (adj)
· attractive (q.v.)
· beautiful (q.v.)
· beddable
· chic
· enthralling
· eye-filling
· fine
· fly (sl.)
· foxy
· fuckable
· sexy (q.v.)
· smoking
· smokin’
HOT
(2) (adj)
(i.e. to be
aroused)
· amorous
· aroused
· fired up
· horny (q.v.)
· hot-to-trot
· in heat (fem.)
· sexed up
· turned on