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Jay headed back to his office. Benji trotted over to him.

  1. Is "trotted" perfectly okay here? (Benji half-runs to get to Jay before he enters his office) Or are there other and more common words I could use instead in this context?

  2. I know it is used about horses. And when I look it up it also says running at a moderate pace with short steps. Why short steps? Will it sound comical if I used "trotted"?

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  • Is Benji a dog? Benji would be more common as a dog's name. There is a series of films about an orphaned puppy named Benji.
    – James K
    Commented Jan 30, 2021 at 17:12

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The word "trotted" is used to liken Benji to a dog. The idea is that the narrator is trying to indicate that Benji is Jay's devoted little slave, and comes when he is called, like a dog.

It's ridicule.

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Trotted can also be used for humans. Merriam Webster says

(2) : a jogging gait of a human that falls between a walk and a run

You could also try 'jogged over' - both work perfectly fine.

Take a look at Google's NGRAM viewer - the usage of both phrases is about the same.

As for why short steps, I guess it's just how normally jogging is done.

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