Timeline for What verb can I use when someone tries to speak while being throttled?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2022 at 19:01 | vote | accept | Fra | ||
| May 26, 2022 at 16:51 | answer | added | gotube♦ | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 26, 2022 at 14:59 | answer | added | the_fens | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 25, 2022 at 7:38 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | @OldBrixtonian - ' but I've never heard anyone grind out "Stop it!". ' - then you haven't lived! | |
| May 24, 2022 at 18:40 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | @Michael Harvey: Ah! So it is in a dictionary. I only looked looked at two. Re bad novels: Yes, between croak and rasp, I reckon. I remember enjoying a Barbara Cartland that was quite similar to the OP's: "He took her in his arms and strained her to him." | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:58 | comment | added | stangdon | It's not that "he grated" is wrong, it just doesn't really match what the OP wants. It means "to speak with a grating tone", but doesn't imply "while being throttled". | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:49 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | If utterances can be croaked, wheezed, or rapped out, I don't see why they can't be grated out. Whether it is appropriate (or possible) for someone who is being strangled, I don't pretend to judge. Nor whether it is elegant. | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:42 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | @OldBrixtonian - re bad novels - "I walk in the Light,” he grated hoarsely, “and you can never touch me!”' Seems to be somewhere between a croak and a rasp? | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:37 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | @OldBrixtonian - you see 'grated' in bad novels (or you used to). Grated 2 [transitive] (written) to talk in a low rough voice ‘Let me go, ’ he grated harshly. Longmans Dictionary | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:30 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | ... Or he could wheeze, gasp, hiss, croak, squeal, squeak...? Or maybe: "Stop it!" he rasped, his voice grating like rusty wheels. | |
| May 24, 2022 at 17:29 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | @Fra: [Sorry - I was re-writing my comment when you wrote yours.] Yes, we can grate our teeth. But I don't think we can grate out "Hello". You can grind out a tune, because that's what hurdy-gurdies did, but I've never heard anyone grind out "Stop it!". Mark can say "Stop it" in a grating voice, but I wouldn't make him grate out "Stop it". Some writers use it, so - it's your choice. I'm in the UK btw: maybe it's different where you are :) ... | |
| May 24, 2022 at 16:50 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | It's the sound that seems grated: like something being grated on a grater. "'Hello,'" he grated" doesn't sound right to me. | |
| May 24, 2022 at 16:46 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | I've never heard the verb 'grate' used that way, though from the first handful of books I looked at from your NGram result, it does seem to be used that way sometimes. It isn't in Cambridge or Lexico dictionaries. | |
| May 24, 2022 at 16:29 | comment | added | Fra | @OldBrixtonian. The freedicitonary gives this definition of grate: 2. To cause to make a harsh grinding or rasping sound through friction: grated her teeth in anger. So, I thought, if a person can grate their teeth, why not words? | |
| May 24, 2022 at 16:14 | comment | added | EllieK | I would not understand what grated out meant. I don't know a specific word that meets your requirement. Sputtered might be close. | |
| May 24, 2022 at 15:36 | history | asked | Fra | CC BY-SA 4.0 |