Undula was not like the other girls. Her undulating hair flows from her head, and her voice undulates through the windows like none other. Her undulating hip movements hypnotize the patrons who undulate in rhythm with her hips.
@@ExoticMerle Her breasts, undulating with each sway, spoke volumes about her. In that they were quite voluminous and inspired much speech about this fact. The soundwaves of the voices undulating towards and then off of them.
Not exactly. Human's can only notice oscillation of sufficiently low frequency. So, unless the sound is very low bass, an undulating sound would more likely refer to the volume differing periodically - possibly due to interference (e.g. if you play two notes that are the same but one is slightly off-tune).
This is one of the only two ways I've actually heard it used in real life. The other is in the context of machines that track other kinds of waves like brain waves or waves of light. No clue why it is used in so many weird contexts in fiction.
Omg I can't wait until Merphy's first album "Till Death Do Us Undulate" to drop. I heard it will coincide with the release with her self help book "Why Undulating Has Made Me Happier". Soooooooo hyped. (Please don't kill me)
On second thoughts, if it gets my book added to Merphy’s spreadsheet and even possibly mentioned in one of her videos, I might just drop a few more in there…
In portuguese, we call wavy hair "cabelo ondulado", which would translate to undulated hair, so we probably use that word a lot more than english speakers
At least he uses it correctly, unlike some of these (I never realized how many people use it wrong, or use it when they really mean “coruscate” or “ululate”)...
Merphy: "This word is never used." Me: "Well, I bet I use it!" Merphy: "The word is undulate." Me: ... "Okay, you're right, I never use that word." I believe the whole point of this word is that conveys a sense of unease & discomfort, like the word "moist."
I think if you want to describe an organ or a mollusk or an alien resembling one of the two, it’s perfect. If they don’t “beat” or “throb”, they undulate.
This comment is scarier than any horror you could write. This is a complement, to be clear. Any more horror and any readers wouldn’t be able to go outside without crying.
@@noone9472 I am from Flanders, so I speak Dutch :) But I just learnt that we, in fact, also have a Dutch word for it: "unduleren". I have literally never in my life heard that word before
While searching through my ebooks, I believe Neal Stephenson is an even bigger culprit. It appears in Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and Seveneves. I don't have ebook copies of Zodiak, Anathem or reamde or any others at the moment so can't check them. I have Anathem in print right in front of me but that's a BIG book to go through, LOL
I take it back. Lynn posted the spreadsheet and Brando Mando Sando is definitely the biggest culprit so far. Leigh Bardugo is giving him a run for his money though.
Update. Lynn has posted 11 Sanderson novels with undulate in them but I just sent her the 11 I found from Iain M Banks so we have a tie for the crown. Come on Brando Mando Sando, you need an undulate in Wax and Wayne 4 to take the title. On another note, Jules Verne reigns supreme in overuse. It appears 19 times in 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. And Madeline L' Engle gets a prize for using it twice in ONE SENTENCE! Honorable Mention to Frank Herbert for using the rare form "undulant."
R. F. Kuang is also a fan of the word. It present 7 times in the Poppy War and 5 in the Dragon Republic. I don't have the Burning God but I'm pretty sure it will be equally prominent. 😂
I am a aspiring author with a simple dream of putting the stories in my head into a physical book for all of the world to read and be entertained by. However, I now have another dream, and that dream is to fill one of the paragraphs in my future books with as many undulate/undulating as I possibly can so that one day the great Merphy could read it and roll her eyes for eternity.
YESSS!!!!!!!! It also seems to also be used in a sexual context and to reference other creatures that eat humans...That connection feels like a weird one to make... Like "The beast eats human flesh" and them later it will refer to a character swooning over another... WHY THIS LINK 😭😭😭😭 WHY???
The word ‘undulations’ is used frequently in golf. Specifically when talking about the up and down slopes on a green, and you have to judge your putt taking the undulations into account. So sorry, Merph, but it is a word used in real life...at least it is on the golf course
To be fair, its appropriate use is generally in the description of things like moving water or certain kinds of landscapes. A lot of its use in fiction, on the other hand, is simply bizarre.
"So I have a spreadsheet." I knew you were one of my favorite booktubers for a reason. Also this is 100% a necessary rant. Big agree. no one likes undulating.
That's how I felt reading "unclosed" all the time in Jane Eyre. Jane unclosed the door. Jane unclosed the curtains. Just say opened already! Jeez! Thankfully, I've only seen the Bronte's use this word. It's so stupid.
This word is so cursed, it even pops up in my head now when I'm describing things in my own books. It's like a virus authors get infected with and all of a sudden EVERYTHING UNDULATES.
"They undulated together, as the ship's sails undulated in the storm, undulating them back and forth in time with the undulations of the sea." Couldn't fit more undulates without this turning into a cosmic horror short story.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Please feel free to add your UNDULATE SPOTTINGS to our spreadsheet by replying to this comment. (Spreadsheet can be found at docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UkwXe07A8ZjIAbAM5E1ra9pDm8j6KQyHSQ98zUCyPZw/edit?usp=sharing ) Thank you and have a nice day.
I know there was one in the first bit of the first witcher book - but I put that down to poor translation. There was also one in the lies of locke lamora. The classic undulating shark.
Dan Brown, Angels and Demons Although he knew the globule was microscopic, he could see every changing gorge and undulation as the ball of plasma rolled slowly in suspension.
The first time I heard the word "undulate" was in my second year acting class when our acting prof would use body undulations as a warm up. It was very strange. So I also always notice this word! :P
This the kind of word that is on a TOEFL exam. For those who don't know, it is a test we non-native English speakers take when we want to know our level of proficiency.
Part of me: you're totally right. Other part of me: now I want to add it to my book. I mean... Is there a good synonym for it though? Surely "rising and falling" will sound cumbersome occasionally
I have noticed "undulating" in books but I never thought to look up the meaning and after this video I assure you it's going to haunt me. Thanks for that Merf.
I feel your pain. When I was in consulting, people used the word “utilize” in a very similar way, and I felt much the same about it as you do about this one. It was like they were saying, “See! I used the word, I belong.” It felt so fake. It does make me wonder if there are similarly misused words in other genres, I’ll bet you self-help would be a mine field of such words.
I review a lot of technical reports at work and people LOVE to switch utilize for use. And, yeah, they mean the same thing, but using it always smacks of "I'm smart and you can tell because I use bigger words instead of smaller more common ones." And there is a time and place. If you have been using "use" a lot and need to break it up a touch, sure. But "use" is like "said," practically invisible to a reader and you shouldn't just throw it out because it's too "common."
Omg I literally have been noticing this the past couple months and I am so happy I am not the only one! It is not a pretty word and is often used when it is not essential! I love the spreadsheet haha 😂
Not gonna lie I mostly knew about this word from r/menwritingwomen and I think that says all we need to know about what the word is often used for lmao.
In most of these examples it doesn't even make sense in context and actually confuses the mental image of what's being described 😕 (at least in my head). I feel like many of these could be replaced with far more appropriate descriptors. Like the "undulating floor" that makes people fall over? Surely a shaking, rattling or even shuddering floorspace would be more likely to make one fall than the smooth motion "undulating" implies?
I don't know. I posted six examples I found of the word appearing in my ebook collection. Three were written by men, three by women and non referred to sex.
@@jakerockznoodles although thinking of an undulating floor is wierd, as a California native I have seen the ground undulate in earthquakes and yes it will make you fall over. I think that is the kind of thing he was going for.
I just used that word in the story I'm writing right now. Like, an hour ago. In my defense, I don't have a woman undulate. It's the surface of an alley.
I was sure that this was going to be about "preternatural". It seems that at some point authors decided "supernatural" just wasn't good enough anymore.
You know, going into this I worried it would make me feel self-conscious about the book I'm working on getting ready to publish. Instead, it just made me want to go back and add undulate to it a lot.
@@keithedwinsmith9416 in norway, budgies is called undulat/undulater. From latin Melopsittacus undulatus. So when I hear the word undulate I thought about birds/sound. A undulating cacophony would make sense in my mind 😂
Whenever "the word that must be used" comes up in a book, I've always felt like it was the author trying too hard to sound poetic or smart. I have to say though I appreciated how you commented on how editors could force authors to use such words.
How do you feel about "oscillate" or "wave" or "billow" or "wobble" or "flow"? Personally, I've never understood the aversion some people have to certain words like "moist" or whatever.
Flow is actually used in real life a lot, good?! I think because mois(ssss)t because its wet bug with that annoying tone and it can indicate somehow dirty and culture, its probably a meme.
To be fair, most of the cool words are not used in most social circles, unfortunately. How many people do you see use the term "effulgence" when describing how brilliant a ray of light is?
As someone who wants to be a future published writer, I know exactly what word I will including in my work. Thank you for letting me know your weakness Merphy.
Now I'm really kinda interested in a part two to this video ... the story of how Merphy The Book-Keeper came to despise the word Undulate with the whole of her ever-gentle heart.
I’m currently reading The Eye of the World, and I immediately remembered this rant and laughed when I came across this word, “her hips undulated as her bare feet shuffled to the beat of the drums”. As a non native speaker, I actually never heard of this word before, but thanks to you it will forever be engraved in my brain and I’ll never need to look it up. So, thanks Merphy.
Apart from the undulating love scenes, I find it was perfectly fine in the other contexts. Its a rare word, but its specific in what it depicts (slow rippling motions or shapes). I don't know, I find it rather satisfying when you put the exact word for the motion you want to describe instead of having to try and define it all the time, hahah. But that might just be because its what I enjoy the most about writing in french too, the wider variety of specific words with different tonalities I can use compared to english.
![Dear Authors... Stabby, Stabby [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xBho0GKrdqo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dear Authors... Stabby, Stabby [CC]](/img/tr.png)
Undula was not like the other girls. Her undulating hair flows from her head, and her voice undulates through the windows like none other. Her undulating hip movements hypnotize the patrons who undulate in rhythm with her hips.
Pfft, not realistic at all. No mentioning of a sentient boob at all??
@@ExoticMerle Her breasts, undulating with each sway, spoke volumes about her. In that they were quite voluminous and inspired much speech about this fact. The soundwaves of the voices undulating towards and then off of them.
She undulated down the stairs, her undules undulating undulatily
... I don't... I can't... How did...
Wow, people. Just wow. 😬
This helps so much, i just added "undulate" to five of my manuscripts, now i feel certain i'll be published
Merphy: "Cory, put music in to make it more dramatic."
Music: kinda derpy
Cory, my man!
Yes that made me laugh my ass off 😆
@@scorpian221 me too hahaha
It sounded like an Alan Silvestri score for some 90s comedy movie.
CORY, MY MAN !
Honestly made this video a comedic masterpiece
“I will take it! I will take the Ring to Mordor,” said Frodo, as Gandalf’s eyebrows undulated in response.
I can now see the Gandalf meme with sounds
One simply does not undulate into Mordor
@@Beez-go-buzz "I never thought I'd die undulating side by side with an elf".
@@karlwilker579 Oh my.
@@karlwilker579 how about side by side with a 🦈 fin? 🌊 ⬆️ ⬇️🔄↗️↘️🤪
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
~ Iñigo Montoya
inconceivable
“We undulated against each other” is going to haunt me.
That sentence is just plaguing my mind now.
Merphy wtf? Why would you title this "An Unnecessary Rant" and not "An Undulating Rant"????
i think she wanted to keep the suspense up to the reveal at 1:29
You spoiled it for me :'(
I take the blame, I shouldn't be scrolling through the comment section before watching the video xD
You’re a literal genius
The shirt gave it away anyway.
There was no suspense. She could have not revealed the word and it would have been clear which word she meant
My favorite part is Merphy’s “interpretive dance” to interpret the phrase “undulating arms”.
Yes!!!
Me: Writing a novel
Merphy: Word I never heard of that she hates.
Me: Maybe I want to be the bad guy.
Same!
"Undulate" totally sounds like a villain name.
@@Strannik01 Lord Undulate sounds like a great name for a villain in an absurdist fantasy, ngl
Extra evil points to add a character called “Merphy” whose distinguishing characteristic is her frequent undulations.
If you listen closely enough, you can hear the music undulating.
"Our arms undulated against each other"
Ma'am this is a Wendy's.
I have never come across a comment on RUclips that screams Reddit so much 🤣🤣
😂😂😂😂😂
Just to clarify: Sound undulates, because undulation is the movement a wave does and sound is a wave moving through air
It often undulates when people ululate. :)
Not exactly. Human's can only notice oscillation of sufficiently low frequency. So, unless the sound is very low bass, an undulating sound would more likely refer to the volume differing periodically - possibly due to interference (e.g. if you play two notes that are the same but one is slightly off-tune).
This is one of the only two ways I've actually heard it used in real life. The other is in the context of machines that track other kinds of waves like brain waves or waves of light. No clue why it is used in so many weird contexts in fiction.
Omg I can't wait until Merphy's first album "Till Death Do Us Undulate" to drop. I heard it will coincide with the release with her self help book "Why Undulating Has Made Me Happier". Soooooooo hyped.
(Please don't kill me)
I hate everything about this comment 😂😂😂
Do you think she'll start doing motivational speaking. Improving your life with Udulation.
@@worstbuddyreaderEddi3 I've heard rumors about a possible one, but I'm not sure.
Either you indeed posted this comment 3 days ago, or youtube is on some undulating alcohol
everyone stop lol
I had no idea how you spelled undulate, so I looked up ungulate, and was so confused about hoofed mammals.
***hastily deletes every ‘undulate’ from first draft of novel***
Nooooooooo, you need to MORE in!
I did a word search and I have used it zero times. Success!
@@leonmayne797 You must take measures to correct this HUGE mistake!
@Lee, can I have those undulates for my draft please? Guy can never have enough
On second thoughts, if it gets my book added to Merphy’s spreadsheet and even possibly mentioned in one of her videos, I might just drop a few more in there…
In portuguese, we call wavy hair "cabelo ondulado", which would translate to undulated hair, so we probably use that word a lot more than english speakers
Same 😂 in polish we have ondulacja - a perm 😂
Same in French, it means wavy
Gonna jump in and say that it's also fairly common in Spanish
Kkkk mano sim, ondulado aq é mais usado pra cabelo do q pra qualquer outra coisa
I am gonna guess that latin languages get that word a lot
Brandon Sanderson REALLY likes undulating.
I lessening Mistborn right now, and thanks to this video essay, will have the same reaction as Merphy have. Thank you Brandon!
Now I want to see a study: is there a higher percentage of Sanderson using undulated or do we just have more examples because he's a writing robot?
Don't we all?
At least he uses it correctly, unlike some of these (I never realized how many people use it wrong, or use it when they really mean “coruscate” or “ululate”)...
So does Jim Butcher.
my sworn enemy is "grunt"/"grunted". it follows me everywhere.
But people grunt a lot
@@heybearnation true. i just have a personal vendetta
@@jiji-ht3gc Okay, but why?
Ah, yes, as a non-native English speaker it's always nice to learn new words
Samee here 👋
New words that I'll never use.
Merphy: "This word is never used."
Me: "Well, I bet I use it!"
Merphy: "The word is undulate."
Me: ... "Okay, you're right, I never use that word."
I believe the whole point of this word is that conveys a sense of unease & discomfort, like the word "moist."
I hate the word “moist”
I think if you want to describe an organ or a mollusk or an alien resembling one of the two, it’s perfect. If they don’t “beat” or “throb”, they undulate.
@@flying-sheep "My heart undulates blood from chamber to chamber."
Gonna write a lovecraft-style short now called the Undulating Horror about the wiggliest cosmic horror monster that ever undulated
This comment is scarier than any horror you could write.
This is a complement, to be clear. Any more horror and any readers wouldn’t be able to go outside without crying.
Certainly a vast slimy monster with undulating tentacles sounds scarier than a big thing with wiggly tentacles.
I would like to read this story please
The heat coming off its body creating an undulating distortion if the air around it.
Undulate is a great word... but it has no business being in 90% of those sentences.
An unnecessary rant is warranted every so often. Like this time.
"Nobody uses this word in real life, don't argue with me"
Me, a non-english speaker: nope, I indeed probably never use it
Where u from? Brazil here
@@JesusFreak98 Belgium for me
As a non-native English speaker I personally enjoy using some fancy lovecraftean words in my speech, so the video just give me an undulating idea 😅
@@lies7253 come on! We have it in French! Ondulé! Haha
@@noone9472 I am from Flanders, so I speak Dutch :) But I just learnt that we, in fact, also have a Dutch word for it: "unduleren". I have literally never in my life heard that word before
“We undulated against each other”
😂😂
I honestly cringed when i heard it😂
It's honestly pretty hot - in an invertebrate primordial ooze kinda way.
I died laughing
Gaaah get this out of my brain forever
ULTRA CRINGE
That one hated word for me is childbearing, especially when immediately followed by hips. It makes me cringe every time!
I love that Brandon Sanderson is one of the biggest culprits lol
While searching through my ebooks, I believe Neal Stephenson is an even bigger culprit. It appears in Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and Seveneves. I don't have ebook copies of Zodiak, Anathem or reamde or any others at the moment so can't check them. I have Anathem in print right in front of me but that's a BIG book to go through, LOL
I take it back. Lynn posted the spreadsheet and Brando Mando Sando is definitely the biggest culprit so far. Leigh Bardugo is giving him a run for his money though.
Update. Lynn has posted 11 Sanderson novels with undulate in them but I just sent her the 11 I found from Iain M Banks so we have a tie for the crown. Come on Brando Mando Sando, you need an undulate in Wax and Wayne 4 to take the title.
On another note, Jules Verne reigns supreme in overuse. It appears 19 times in 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. And Madeline L' Engle gets a prize for using it twice in ONE SENTENCE!
Honorable Mention to Frank Herbert for using the rare form "undulant."
According to my Kindle Sanderson used the word "undulating" 8 times in Rythm of War.
Plus 7 times in Oathbringer
R. F. Kuang is also a fan of the word. It present 7 times in the Poppy War and 5 in the Dragon Republic. I don't have the Burning God but I'm pretty sure it will be equally prominent. 😂
I am a aspiring author with a simple dream of putting the stories in my head into a physical book for all of the world to read and be entertained by. However, I now have another dream, and that dream is to fill one of the paragraphs in my future books with as many undulate/undulating as I possibly can so that one day the great Merphy could read it and roll her eyes for eternity.
PETITION for Daniel Greene to include it in his next novella!
... it’s in Breach of Peace lol
Petition for Daniel Greene to use undulation in the title of his next novella...
About half way through chapter 5. He at least uses it to describe a liquid in motion, not a sex act.
@@merphynapier42 This is hilarious lmao
I would like to add that “blinking owlishly” is a pet peeve of mine.
Every time I read that description I end up trying to imitate what that blink would be like
Only characters with nictitating membranes should blink owlishly
I always imagine them blinking one eye at a time, like Pixar's characters, but very slowly. That's some ugly way to blink.
Undulating owlishly
Hahaha, the first things I connect to ‚blinking owlishly‘ is Debby Ryan playing Radio Rebel
Undulate is definitely a word used in fiction often. I also think the word "flesh" is used too frequently, especially in YA books.
YESSS!!!!!!!! It also seems to also be used in a sexual context and to reference other creatures that eat humans...That connection feels like a weird one to make...
Like "The beast eats human flesh" and them later it will refer to a character swooning over another...
WHY THIS LINK 😭😭😭😭 WHY???
“Oscillation” is a much better word for describing waves or motion lol
I feel like "oscillation" implies a certain speed to the motion whereas "Undulate" implies a slower pace to said wave
'Undulating' seems to be derived from the Latin word 'unda', meaning 'wave'. So technically, it's the perfect word to describe waves.
@@coracorvus or, maybe, saying wave (waving), would suffice aswell
Publisher: Does it have the word "undulate" in it?
Hopeful author: Yes.
Publisher: DEAL!!
If it helps, the word “undulate” has come up several times for me in school...I’m a medical student...we usually talk about undulating fevers 😂
The word ‘undulations’ is used frequently in golf. Specifically when talking about the up and down slopes on a green, and you have to judge your putt taking the undulations into account. So sorry, Merph, but it is a word used in real life...at least it is on the golf course
To be fair, its appropriate use is generally in the description of things like moving water or certain kinds of landscapes. A lot of its use in fiction, on the other hand, is simply bizarre.
@@connorrhun you sir have made a remarkable observation.
Yeah I was about to say, the only time I've heard undulate in real life is in relation to reading putts on greens while golfing.
I came here to say this haha, does feel appropriate just for a golf course :)
I was going to say this too! I've heard it most in disc golf, which borrows a lot of terminology from golf
"So I have a spreadsheet." I knew you were one of my favorite booktubers for a reason. Also this is 100% a necessary rant. Big agree. no one likes undulating.
.
Cory's music choice making this feel like a carnival sideshow. 😂
"I reject your reality and substitute my own." Undulate is one of the words that looks better written down and read than spoken,
This feels like when your friend quietly points out to you the person in room that is chewing too loudly, and now it bothers you now too.
That's how I felt reading "unclosed" all the time in Jane Eyre. Jane unclosed the door. Jane unclosed the curtains. Just say opened already! Jeez! Thankfully, I've only seen the Bronte's use this word. It's so stupid.
This word is so cursed, it even pops up in my head now when I'm describing things in my own books. It's like a virus authors get infected with and all of a sudden EVERYTHING UNDULATES.
This feel very Junji Ito-like for my mental health D:
Wait, how come your comment was 2 days ago, when the video was only uploaded an hour ago?
@@dwightalexander2648 I think patrons get early access
@@dwightalexander2648 tier 2 patrons get early access, a link to the video a few days before it goes public.
"They undulated together, as the ship's sails undulated in the storm, undulating them back and forth in time with the undulations of the sea." Couldn't fit more undulates without this turning into a cosmic horror short story.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Please feel free to add your UNDULATE SPOTTINGS to our spreadsheet by replying to this comment.
(Spreadsheet can be found at docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UkwXe07A8ZjIAbAM5E1ra9pDm8j6KQyHSQ98zUCyPZw/edit?usp=sharing )
Thank you and have a nice day.
Marie Perez was an undulating young girl. Her walk was undulating. - my own book, Marie Perez and The Tabloid Expose by Saad Aman 😂
@@saadamansayyed How could you.
@@leonmayne797 How could I, I thought, as thoughts flew in an undulating motion in my brain.
I know there was one in the first bit of the first witcher book - but I put that down to poor translation.
There was also one in the lies of locke lamora. The classic undulating shark.
Dan Brown, Angels and Demons
Although he knew the globule was microscopic, he could see every changing gorge and undulation as the ball of plasma rolled slowly in suspension.
This is amazing. Guaranteed this makes its way to Sanderson somehow, and he will take note haha
I’ve now heard this word so many times in a row now that it doesn’t even sound like a real word any more. 😂
The first time I heard the word "undulate" was in my second year acting class when our acting prof would use body undulations as a warm up. It was very strange. So I also always notice this word! :P
I'm going to start looking for ways to use the word undulate in my daily conversations now.
this is hilarious!! thanks Merphy. gonna keep an eye out for it now in Sandersons work. Thanks for all your videos.
Unnecessary rants are the best kinds
All I could think of was that scene in “10 things I hate about you” where the guidance counsellor is writing her book
This is the best comment!
engorged.
@@wingracer1614 tumescent?
the rant was so undulating, I'm undulated, thank you, my heart undulates for you from the bottom of my heart
This the kind of word that is on a TOEFL exam.
For those who don't know, it is a test we non-native English speakers take when we want to know our level of proficiency.
Things move in and out of fashion, sort of up and down, kind of in waves. I wish there was a word to describe this.
Part of me: you're totally right.
Other part of me: now I want to add it to my book.
I mean... Is there a good synonym for it though? Surely "rising and falling" will sound cumbersome occasionally
It’s two years late, but oscillating?
I have noticed "undulating" in books but I never thought to look up the meaning and after this video I assure you it's going to haunt me. Thanks for that Merf.
I absolutely adore how often Brandon Sanderson uses it, just because halarious.
My most favourite spreadsheet i ever made!
I’m learning so much about writing and new words. Thank you Merphy!
Thanks for the new word! I can't wait to use it in my writing!
Especially to describe body movements and walls!
My blankets undulate my soft bed.
Undulate is used often in golf, when reading the "undulations" of a green to try to determine where to aim your putt.
Why Merhp WHY!!!!??? Now it's everywhere and I can't unsee it 😭😭😭
I feel your pain. When I was in consulting, people used the word “utilize” in a very similar way, and I felt much the same about it as you do about this one. It was like they were saying, “See! I used the word, I belong.” It felt so fake. It does make me wonder if there are similarly misused words in other genres, I’ll bet you self-help would be a mine field of such words.
I review a lot of technical reports at work and people LOVE to switch utilize for use. And, yeah, they mean the same thing, but using it always smacks of "I'm smart and you can tell because I use bigger words instead of smaller more common ones." And there is a time and place. If you have been using "use" a lot and need to break it up a touch, sure. But "use" is like "said," practically invisible to a reader and you shouldn't just throw it out because it's too "common."
Amazing video!!! Sanderson is the master of Undulating- see spreadsheet and all the occurrences in Oathbringer as example- 5 times in 1 scene!!!!
He can't compare to Peter F Hamilton, the king of undulations.
Omg I literally have been noticing this the past couple months and I am so happy I am not the only one! It is not a pretty word and is often used when it is not essential! I love the spreadsheet haha 😂
Not gonna lie I mostly knew about this word from r/menwritingwomen and I think that says all we need to know about what the word is often used for lmao.
In most of these examples it doesn't even make sense in context and actually confuses the mental image of what's being described 😕 (at least in my head).
I feel like many of these could be replaced with far more appropriate descriptors. Like the "undulating floor" that makes people fall over? Surely a shaking, rattling or even shuddering floorspace would be more likely to make one fall than the smooth motion "undulating" implies?
Oh boy
The only use in sexual act should be about shapeshifting, fluids or tentacles.
I don't know. I posted six examples I found of the word appearing in my ebook collection. Three were written by men, three by women and non referred to sex.
@@jakerockznoodles although thinking of an undulating floor is wierd, as a California native I have seen the ground undulate in earthquakes and yes it will make you fall over. I think that is the kind of thing he was going for.
I'm putting the word in every chapter.
It's beautiful.
I love how you undulate under in it's presences.
I just used that word in the story I'm writing right now. Like, an hour ago.
In my defense, I don't have a woman undulate. It's the surface of an alley.
Merphy: Reads an example of undulate in the sentences
Me: New fear unlocked
Merphy makes a rangt about a word no one uses
Also Merphy at 3:47 "My Golly"
Lol
Also “Dagum”
I thought this was common lol. Maybe it's just a southern thing because I hear both words all the time😂
I didn't expect to enjoy this so much😂😂
When I heard about "wavy edges" in undulating's definition. I thought it was related to lasagna pasta.
As a Spanish speaker this word isn't weird at all
Yep
Just what I was thinking
In French too, it's used quite a lot...
Even in Italian it doesn't seem weird at all, I think we use it quite a lot
One thing for sure happened to me, by reading (especially) a lot of fantasy, was the increase of my vocabulary.
During that build up I thought for sure you would say “click their tongue” literally in every fantasy book and it gets an eye roll from me every time
The little comments on the Dresden Files ones were so perfect
Thanks Merphy I learned a new word and it's undulating in my brain now 😁
My eyes were closed to this. My god, you have made me feel cold everytime I hear that word.
*laughs in "I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding"*
There’s an ‘undulating’ on page 202 of Ruin and Rising
I need you to know that I'm reading ROW right now. Today I've read undulating 3 times... just today. I would have never noticed
The only time I've ever heard the word 'undulate' is when my swim coach was teaching dolphin kick. Which is also the only time when it should be used.
I was sure that this was going to be about "preternatural". It seems that at some point authors decided "supernatural" just wasn't good enough anymore.
I’ve had a life in science. I’ve heard the word way more than just in genre books. :)
I was thinking the same, in physiology there is a lot of undulation going on :p
You know, going into this I worried it would make me feel self-conscious about the book I'm working on getting ready to publish. Instead, it just made me want to go back and add undulate to it a lot.
Same feelings about the word “cacophony”.
Come to Greece, we use it here.
@@azh698 same in norway. maybe not common, but used.
You’re going to read the phrase “… undulating cacophony…” somewhere now!🙀
@@keithedwinsmith9416 in norway, budgies is called undulat/undulater. From latin Melopsittacus undulatus. So when I hear the word undulate I thought about birds/sound. A undulating cacophony would make sense in my mind 😂
Don't read Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes then. The main character is Sal the Cacophony. :)
Whenever "the word that must be used" comes up in a book, I've always felt like it was the author trying too hard to sound poetic or smart. I have to say though I appreciated how you commented on how editors could force authors to use such words.
This was advice my creative writing,teacher once gave: "It's good, but it comes off too much like 'I know words.'"
How do you feel about "oscillate" or "wave" or "billow" or "wobble" or "flow"? Personally, I've never understood the aversion some people have to certain words like "moist" or whatever.
Flow is actually used in real life a lot, good?! I think because mois(ssss)t because its wet bug with that annoying tone and it can indicate somehow dirty and culture, its probably a meme.
"Their bodies wobbled against each other" ...well, it's no worse than "undulate" I guess.
I would love to be able to oscillate or billow my arms as I walk 😂
@@skyeoak3 Nobody is stopping you.
@@toshomni9478 🤩
I am now determined to use this word once per book, and if Merphy ever happens to read any of them... she'll know what she's done.
You do realize this rant will only increase "undulate"'s power as a word, right?
I watched this video about an hour ago and I have already caught the word in the book I'm reading. I can't unsee it now.
To be fair, most of the cool words are not used in most social circles, unfortunately. How many people do you see use the term "effulgence" when describing how brilliant a ray of light is?
Esoteric and eclectic are two words I find myself occasionally using in conversation and it often catches the people I'm talking to off guard.
Well, how many people do you hear describing a ray of light to begin with
@@august1837 my plants occasionally describe rays of light, but usually only in terms of flavour. Green is apparently salty.
E. E. "Doc" Smith was fond of effulgent and several other esoteric words. He introduced me to "yclept" and "coruscate".
@@involunteer I like coruscate.
As someone who wants to be a future published writer, I know exactly what word I will including in my work. Thank you for letting me know your weakness Merphy.
Now I'm really kinda interested in a part two to this video ... the story of how Merphy The Book-Keeper came to despise the word Undulate with the whole of her ever-gentle heart.
Love what do on this channel. I can't wait to read some of the books you've recommended in some of your previous videos.
Everybody: Talking about the actual video
Me: her water bottle has an Eleventh Doctor quote
Just wait until you notice how often Sinewy is used in fantasy. I swear Joe Abercrombie gets a bonus if he finds one use for the word in each chapter.
"... you're gonna start noticing now."
Yes. Thanks, I hate it... :D
I’m currently reading The Eye of the World, and I immediately remembered this rant and laughed when I came across this word, “her hips undulated as her bare feet shuffled to the beat of the drums”.
As a non native speaker, I actually never heard of this word before, but thanks to you it will forever be engraved in my brain and I’ll never need to look it up. So, thanks Merphy.
I would disagree a little
Undulating is also a bellydance term, a specific movement well known (Just after the Shimmy)
Apart from the undulating love scenes, I find it was perfectly fine in the other contexts. Its a rare word, but its specific in what it depicts (slow rippling motions or shapes).
I don't know, I find it rather satisfying when you put the exact word for the motion you want to describe instead of having to try and define it all the time, hahah. But that might just be because its what I enjoy the most about writing in french too, the wider variety of specific words with different tonalities I can use compared to english.