Description for a nameless action

Quirking a brow?

Repeatedly?

I'd call that "waggling your eyebrows."

Viridian said:

Repeatedly?

I'd call that "waggling your eyebrows."

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I'd go with this if it was a repeated action in response to a suggestive comment instead of a single eyebrow raised in a more questioning way (I'd call that "Spock" expression "quirking a brow").

Though I once ran across a young, female character in a critting partner's novel who "waggled her brows suggestively," and I realized the image didn't work for me unless the person in question had those bushy, "curmudgeon" type eyebrows one typically sees on older men and gnomes.

That's an eyebrow waggle.

I've used "bounced", i.e. "he bounced his eyebrows", but "waggled" would draw less attention to itself.

Edit:

wiggle?

Hum, I'm sitting here trying to do that. It's not very comfortable to do for very long.

Granted, one movement = a quirk of a brow.

Waggle is too lowbrow.

More than two movement of brows = serial quirking.

The Lowbrow Waggle--perfect pre-WWII jazz subgenre/fashionable dance name
Hey, Duke! Play us some Lowbrow Waggle!
Sure thing, Pops!
Tosh-ti-tosh; blipibbieblap; pudum-du-dum-pu-du-dum; trumpet solo.

Lord Kristine said:

How would you describe the act of lifting one's eyebrows repeatedly to imply a sassy reaction to a scandalous remark? As far as I know, there's no name for it. To specify, the eyebrows are supposed to be indicating an "if you know what I mean" vibe.

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Wiggling the eyebrows. That's how I've seen it described, at any rate.

For a single lift, can one say "raise an eyebrow"?

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Of course. Raise, lift, elevate, arch...

Lord Kristine said:

How would you describe the act of lifting one's eyebrows repeatedly to imply a sassy reaction to a scandalous remark? As far as I know, there's no name for it. To specify, the eyebrows are supposed to be indicating an "if you know what I mean" vibe.

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I think the real answer to this is "however you wish". Be unique, be creative.

This question makes me laugh.

There is a writer who frequently gives workshops in the Denver area. She HATES the description "raised an eyebrow." I've heard her say it at least a dozen times when talking about describing people and actions.

"People don't do that," she says. "When was the last time you ever saw someone raise a single eyebrow?"

Every. Damn. Day.

My husband calls it the Spock-eye, and I get it from him or one of my sons at least once a day. My youngest son started doing it before he could talk. I remember our first real night out after he was born, the babysitter was changing his diaper, and he cocked a single eyebrow at her. She said it was the most unnerving look an infant had ever given her.

But this author continues to give the advice not to use it in your books because "people don't do that."

Southpaw said:

Hum, I'm sitting here trying to do that. It's not very comfortable to do for very long.

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I think if eyes were as flexible as they are in some books, Lassik would be far more affordable.

Lord Kristine said:

I wish I had known those synonyms before I murdered my poor word cloud with incessant use of "raised".

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Heh.

Although this may actually be a symptom of another issue: the overuse of eyebrow movement.

Myrealana said:

"people don't do that."

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I'm deaf and rely on facial expressions to help derive meaning. Yes, people do raise (quirk, lift, arch) an eyebrow, as Myrealana says.

I once wrote about a character's brows forming a straight line (--) and was told "people don't do that" by a beta-reader who for all intents and purposes must spend her days isolated in a prison cell. I live with a "people" who gives me the straight brow at least once a day.

Myrealana said:

"People don't do that," she says. "When was the last time you ever saw someone raise a single eyebrow?"

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Eye rolls and sighs are probably fine with this author, because THOSE she experiences every time she mentions the eyebrows.

I wouldn't recognize "quirk". Is that a Britishism? Waggle and wiggle seem too silly.

I'm going to offer another alternative. If it's too hard to describe, have the character do a different action. Maybe waggling eyebrows is what the character would do in the situation. If this was a movie, maybe the actor would waggle their eyebrows to show the viewer what they're thinking. But you use the reaction that's best suited to the medium. If eyebrow waggling is causing you difficulty, think of a different way a person might express conspiratorial intent.

I think raised eyebrows are a thing that really happens, but that writing teacher is still correct. It's a cliche. It's an idiom. "That caused a lot of raised eyebrows," doesn't necessarily mean anyone actually made that expression. It probably happens less than people write it happens, because it's only one way to express incredulity, but it's the first that comes to mind and easiest for the writer. It's not surprising enough to the reader. It doesn't cause them to form a picture in their mind, because they jump right from the words to the idea. Try tossing the head back or a facepalm.

BethS said:

Heh.

Although this may actually be a symptom of another issue: the overuse of eyebrow movement.

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I want to write "arched an eyebrow", I really do. And then when I try I think about that one author who had EVERY SINGLE WOMAN DO IT ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME in EVERY SINGLE ONE of his books and now I just can't.

Sorry, this thread is just hilarious reading actually...(good question, though, OP).

jjdebenedictis said:

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exactly, jj.

Southpaw said:

wiggle?

Hum, I'm sitting here trying to do that. It's not very comfortable to do for very long.

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Try it with a murmured "rawr". Works better.

morngnstar said:

I wouldn't recognize "quirk". Is that a Britishism?

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I've heard quirk used here in the Midwest US and use it myself.

Kitkitdizzi said:

I want to write "arched an eyebrow", I really do. And then when I try I think about that one author who had EVERY SINGLE WOMAN DO IT ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME in EVERY SINGLE ONE of his books and now I just can't.

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That's like a certain book that has a character bite her lip all the time. Has ruined that for me, forever. I actually screamed in my latest WIP when I wrote it and realized I'd written it. Granted, I think I'm going to leave it in there, since it's actually appropriate, but...there might have been some hyperventilation.

BethS said:

Heh.

Although this may actually be a symptom of another issue: the overuse of eyebrow movement.

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Because it's easy to write without interfering with the flow of a sentence, and eyes in general are something we tend to notice when we're looking at people (and brows tend to be the part of the eye that one notices first, even from a distance). Pupils often dilate or constrict in response to emotion too, but unless someone has light eyes, or you're very close to them, it's harder to notice from across a room.

Mouths are another thing we can spot from a distance, hence all the pursed lips, tight lips, frowns, glowers, grins, flashing teeth, smirks and smiles.

Our cheeks tend to round when we smile in a genuine way, but it might look a bit odd to describe a smile as "her cheeks rounded." Usually we're focused on the eyes and mouth. Likewise, brows rise in surprise, and their mouth may fall open, but we don't tend to notice what a person's nose is doing at this time (though nostrils do sometimes flare with anger)

This article is kind of silly, because the models are showing such exaggerated versions of the emotions, but you can see the issue with trying to micro dissect the different expressions and trying to describe them in a way that is completely unambiguous, isn't cliched sounding and focused on the usual facial features, nor overly analytical and detached sounding.

Sometimes it just works better to use something like: She drooped like a prisoner on her way to the gallows, or, He looked gleeful as an investment banker right after the Glass-Steagall act was repealed.

But those kinds of descriptions can become annoying or hokey too, especially if the comparison doesn't quite work for the setting or character (or if it's too obscure for many readers to get).

I always say 'cocked'.

I can't imagine describing that kind of eyebrow waggle without referring to Groucho Marx.