Prose checks › Dated or hurtful words Pro
Prose check: dated or hurtful wordsWords that have aged.
Some words have aged badly. This check points out dated or hurtful words, with what’s used now. It’s off until you turn it on, because novels use such words on purpose.
Why it’s off by default
A character from 1890 talks like 1890. A villain says villainous things. Fiction uses these words on purpose all the time.
So this check waits until you ask for it. Turn it on when you want a second look at your narration.
Where the list of dated or hurtful words comes from
alex’s open-source list (retext-equality), with what’s used now for each word. Dialogue isn’t counted.
How Falcontext checks dated or hurtful words
Guidelines, not rules. Off until you turn it on, because fiction uses these words on purpose.
- Finds
- Words that may read as dated or hurtful in the narration, each with a suggestion. Off until you turn it on.
- Traffic light
- None
- 1–2
- 3 or more
It suggests. You decide, scene by scene.
Turned on, this check joins the words pass of the self-editing guide, the fourth of five.
Do you check old drafts for words that have aged?
Questions about dated or hurtful words.
Why is this check off by default?
Because novels use such words on purpose: in a character’s voice, or in a story set in another time. Turn it on when you want it.
Does it change my words?
No. It points them out with what’s used now, and leaves the choice to you.
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