Non-romance readers are probably thinking, that’s a pretty bold statement to make. Additionally they’re probably snorting derisively and thinking about all the euphemisms used across much of genre for sexual congress and body parts. Well they’re not wrong about the wide variety of clever (and not so clever) terminology we’ve developed for ourselves, but they would be wrong in dismissing romance as a genre without superior command of the English language. It is there in the rhetoric and word choice.
Several romantic titles have improved my vocabulary. I remember clearly the first words that I looked up from a novel by LaVyrle Spencer. I’m sure prolific readers or long time readers of the genre have read it: Hummingbird
I don’t recall exactly how old I was when I first looked up words from romance, but I know it was somewhere between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. Some of the words I looked up were: tantalizingly (to torment), appease (satisfy), cajoling (to persuade), adeptly (skillfully), entente (arrangement), tempestuous (turbulent), tumescent (sexually ready), unscrupulous (unethical), and suckling (to nurse). Today I add to the list: lissome (lithe/supple), atavistic (revert/primitive), rictus (agape or open mouth), catharsis (to relieve [emotions]), temerity (boldness/cheek), and mellifluous (sweetly soothing).
My guesses were 98% correct in their meanings and I had personally never come across them before in my reading. Rictus is the one that stumped me, by the way. I read the sentence too fast and the word combination was rictus-hard… which considering it was in the midst of a sex scene and he was inside her I assumed it to refer to his member not his expression of pleasure/concentration. Totally innocent mistake… 
Anyway, it’s quite the list if I say so myself. All of those words from both books showed up within 20 pages of first unknown. I have a theory about this. I think some authors are worried about the seeming lack of sophistication in romantic prose. I find strings of unknowns just after a sex scene in the novel (and sometimes [rarely] before one.) It’s as if authors are proving their intelligence for those naysayers out there. I write about sex, but don’t mistake me for an uneducated featherbrain!
The unsaid here is that other authors have a natural affinity for words and insert them without consciously deciding to use one more difficult word over an easier more common synonym. Or maybe I’m wrong and these authors consciously choose certain words to keep the easy flow of narration or to keep within a particular time period.
I don’t mind the words, I like them. Indeed, I love that romance authors are out there contradicting suppositions about the genre being for mindless (sex-starved) women. How has romance increased your vocabulary?
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This post was written by...
Keira – who has written 1034 posts on Love Romance Passion.
Keira's favorite type of heroes are blind, scarred, and tortured... yes, she understands those should be separate, but all 3 at once is also nice! She enjoys historical romances best and adores audio books because great narrators turn books into auditory/mental movies (and she loves her romantic dramas like Pride and Prejudice/North and South!) Learn more about Keira in My Instant Turn Ons, Offs, and Ifs.
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All I can say is yes yes and yes. My vocab and diction have greatly increased from reading- and reading something I enjoy: romance novels.
I keep a sheet of writing paper inside the novel. When I encounter something that impresses me-I’ll jot it down. Thanks to NR, she’s given me: new words, new uses for contractions, and novel synonyms.
I’ve never read a romance novel, but I do think reading novels (in general) is THE BEST way to increase one’s vocabulary and diction.
By the way, tumescent doesn’t mean “sexually ready,” though one can indeed be tumescent (i.e., “swollen”) with sexual lust. Anyway, thanks for introducing the term to me!
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