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Zenith667 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

Inhuman 'growling'

Hello,

I used to believe the word "growl" is used mostly / only to express the death / black metal yells, or some calls of animals & fiends. But I did happen to read, in novels, "growl" where it meant something like a harsh, natural human voice.

If one wants to express the growl sound of an unnatural fiend, is there a better word to use, so that the reader of the text does not take it for an angry human yell?

Thanks!
  

Top answer

When an animal growls, we hear Grrrr . When we describe a human as growling, it is really more an attitude or a manner of speaking that actually growling as do animals. It's sort of a reverse of personification.

— Philip

  • When an animal growls, we hear Grrrr .
  • When we describe a human as growling, it is really more an attitude or a manner of speaking that actually growling as do animals.
  • It's sort of a reverse of personification.
  • I can't really address the question of the "unnatural fiend".
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8 Answers
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When an animal growls, we hear Grrrr. When we describe a human as growling, it is really more an attitude or a manner of speaking that actually growling as do animals. It's sort of a reverse of personification. I can't really address the question of the "unnatural fiend".
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This is a bit of an oxymoron, because how can an "unnatural fiend" produce an audible sound which can be described by human (natural) words?
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thanks for the link, teechr.

Apparently the tigers roar / growl. "roar" I suppose, has no other meaning to it than the harshness of the sound.

Also, if I talk about a demon in a fifth dimension:
"I shall eat your soul!" he growled.
would you understand it as an attitude / manner of speaking, or an actual roar?

And if I talk about a guy in his bed hearing a voice
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Zenith667 teechr.
Oh, please! Why would you thank a teacher by mangling the word "teacher"??
Zenith667Apparently the tigers roar / growl. "roar" I suppose, has no other meaning to it than the harshness of the sound.
A roar is always loud. A growl could be either loud or quiet, but would generally be quieter than a roar..
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Oh, I didn't make the connection, teechr, teacher... I thought it's a pseudonym like xenzzm or smth.
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khoffWhy would you thank a teacher by mangling the word "teacher"?
Take a close look at the log-in id of the user in question. It's "teechr".

I know.

CJ
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Oh I'm so sorry, Zenith667! I didn't realize "teechr" was the user name of the person you were replying to -- I thought you were just trying to shorten the word "teacher", like people often use "plz" or "thx" instead of "please" or "thanks." I apologize -- you were not at fault at all.
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