She steamed

Chase said:

Good point, but define "reasonable."

Since many uneducated people thought to "beg the question" means to plead for an answer, we should throw out the long-standing meaning that to beg the question refers to a fallacy of argument in which the premise presupposes the truth of its conclusion because the many wrongs make a right?

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I can easily look up the meaning of the phrase "beg the question."

I cannot look up "hiss" and find anything that says it's a misnomer in the case of cats or in the case of snakes where I don't hear "sss" but instead "ffff" or "hhhh," or that it can only be used with sibilants to the exclusion of any other usage; in fact I find only the opposite.

Is it reasonable to give up and let "She laid on her side" be more acceptable than "She lay on her side" because lots of people think it "sounds" better?

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Again, I can look up the correct grammar here. There is a verifiable rule in place. I have actually looked, because I'm that much of a time-waster, and I cannot find anything that says cats don't hiss OR that you cannot apply hissing to dialogue without sibilants except people's opinions on the internet.

I conducted a straw pole of the three veterinarians I know, and they say the feline spit reflex is intended to cast droplets and "hiss" is a widespread misnomer. So I say, "accepted" by whom?

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Cats spit. They also hiss.

Three people you personally know and no factual evidence I can look up < the definition in several dictionaries that say hissing can mean to "whisper in an urgent manner" without sibilants, widespread usage, my own books on domestic animals, and, again, people who actually write papers on this subject, among other things I can look up and verify for myself.

Part of an editors job is to correct facts.

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But how do you judge what a fact is? If the dictionary says it can be used as a dialogue tag, does that not make it a fact of usage? And if actual textbooks and scientific papers use the word where there are no sibilants, is it not at least valid to say that in creative writing it can be used, even metaphorically, if you will only have it that way?

I'll leave off this now as I find I'm feeling rather silly going on and on about this... I really just wanted to point out that the wrongness or rightness of word usage is often a slippery thing, and more often than not, we are more freed than hindered

She steamed vegetables.

Steaming is a game for rain ruined barbecues.

When in doubt, listen to Chase. He's, like, all editory and stuff.

buzhidao said:

Show me a hissing cat that makes sibilant sounds

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Are "Phffffft!" or "Khaaaaaaaah!" sibilants? I don't hear any "s" sounds in cat hissing either.

Now snakes do a of "Sssssssttttt" when they hiss. Our gopher snake got out of her cage one day, and the cats corralled her in the bathroom, and she was hissing so loudly it sounded like a steam pipe burst.

Fruitbat said:

My cat talks. But she only says one thing, "More rare." So our conversations are limited.

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Mine say "Meeeeee," and "Meeee oooowwwt," and "Nahw!" also. They also have credible "Noooooo!"s.

I think of a "hiss" in dialog as something said in an intense, angry whisper, not necessarily with lots of sibilants.

To be honest, I don't think I've ever heard anyone "hiss" like a snake or cat with long aspirations, except in the "Boo, hiss" sense. Nor was I ever aware of a rule that said hissing in an animal was only hissing if the letter "s" was actually enunciated. I always figured it was rather metaphoric, and in terms of behavior, it describes a certain category of non-vocalized sound that is formed by forcing air at high speed out though the throat and mouth.

And anyway, I strictly ration the fancy tags. I occasionally have someone shout, whisper, or murmur if the volume they're saying it at is important, and I can't think of a better way to get it across cleanly, but I have trouble with the silly ones like hissed, burbled, gushed, and ... ejaculated. I took the advice to not use dialog tags to heart, and looking at published writers, I realize I probably under use them, if anything (most use them fairly often, in fact).

But I'm pretty sure I've never had a character hiss anything. I'll have to keep an eye out to see how trade published writers use the term.

But I still say "steam" doesn't work as a dialog tag, regardless, and it doesn't do it for me as an action denoting anger either, unless the context makes it very clear.

Fruitbat said:

When in doubt, listen to Chase. He's, like, all editory and stuff.

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Look...I don't actually want to keep talking about this, but I regard this (listen to an authority because authority) as a stilting if not dangerous attitude. This is why I said something in the first place.

Usually Chase is very reliable in such matters, yes. But no one should heed a thing as fact said by a person on the Internet that makes no sense and is directly contradicted by outside sources and reference material. If an editor said the dictionary definition of buzzard was wrong and it actually means "to scoop someone's eye out with a spoon" but you could not find evidence of this anywhere, and Oxford and Merriam Webster both say a buzzard is a bird, and you keep finding books on birds where the word buzzard is used, you could at least safely assume that using buzzard to mean a type of bird is not wrong, if not absolutely correct.

That's all I'm saying. Use your head, and use words to the full extent of ther meaning if you wish to

@Buz- Oh no, it's much easier to simply listen to Chase. Stop confusing me.

So your real question was 'Does he/she/they 'steamed' ever work as a dialogue tag?'

Answer - if the context is right and you have talking kettles or hot pools... perhaps.

Mr.Letterman said:

Also the "Who does that bitch think she is?" was just an example.

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Fruitbat said:

Stop confusing me.

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Me, too. Didn't Virginia's papa say if you read it on the internet, it must be true?

Of course it's true- isn't it? And you wouldn't lie to me? Surely not...

Mr.Letterman said:

She steamed at the news

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I would say, "She was steaming at the news." That's assuming you're OK with explaining (telling) her anger rather than showing it. Telling may be perfectly fine, depending on the context.

You can't "steam" dialogue, so that other example will earn you some eye rolls. I'd recommend against it.