Can "self-conscious" be an adjective?

I don't see why not. Well, my personal feeling is that anything can be an adjective, if you're not going to obey the strict rules of grammar. One can have self-conscious movements - it gives a different sense when you write "His movements were self-conscious" compared to "He moved self-consciously." I say do what you want if it helps to tell the story in a better way.

There's a difference, though, between breaking "rules" of grammar that aren't really rules ("Don't start a sentence with a conjunction" and "Don't end a sentence with a preposition" are such fake rules), and doing something grammatically that changes the meaning of the sentence. "Self-conscious movements" means, strictly speaking, that the movements are aware of themselves, which cannot be.

Aconite said:

There's a difference, though, between breaking "rules" of grammar that aren't really rules ("Don't start a sentence with a conjunction" and "Don't end a sentence with a preposition" are such fake rules), and doing something grammatically that changes the meaning of the sentence. "Self-conscious movements" means, strictly speaking, that the movements are aware of themselves, which cannot be.

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You're probably right in the strict literal sense of the meaning of the sentence. I took only a few seconds to read the sentence (which other readers might only do too if the novel were in their hands) and simply picked up the sense of what he was trying to convey. However, movements being self-conscious might just be a short-hand, conversational way of saying something longer (ie you are aware of your own movements rather than the movements being aware of themselves) but one's mind fills in the blanks to get the sense of what is being said. Of course, if agents are going to call you up on that, then it's best to err on the side of caution.

I think self-conscious describes a person, so I would say "he felt self-conscious around her" or "he moved self-consciously." But I probably wouldn't say "the movement was self-conscious" -- it makes me think that the movements themselves are self-conscious.

CaroGirl said:

Writer's describe a "foolish hand", the "angry storm", a "lonesome road". Of course a hand is not foolish, a storm is not angry, a road is not lonesome, but, in their context, the images work well.

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Not necessarily. First of all, that's telling, not showing. Second, these are all cliches. Third, these are what we call "pathetic fallacy."

Of course, it's not to say pathetic fallacy can't be useful. In poetic writing, for example, they can be very powerful and effective. However, in fiction, it comes down to style.

"Self-conscious" is always an adjective.

The first thing to do when you want to know whether a word can be used a certain way is to see whether dictionaries have definitions for your proposed use and examples of it. The American Heritage Dictionary has "The dialect became a self-conscious prose poetry in her plays."

Why object to "self-conscious movements" when we accept "an insincere smile," "a clever idea," and "a defensive maneuver"?

marlowesnoopstein said:

Of course, if agents are going to call you up on that, then it's best to err on the side of caution.

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I wasn't thinking of agents so much as readers. I do try not to torture the very literate ones. *grin*

reph said:

Why object to "self-conscious movements" when we accept "an insincere smile," "a clever idea," and "a defensive maneuver"?

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For me, because "self-conscious" carries the connotation of self-awareness. It may not be purely logical, but there it is.

It is perfectly correct to use 'self-conscious' as an adjective to refer to nouns that do not in themselves possess the ability to have emotions. The operative idea is that the noun is part of or connected with an agent that does possess such a capacity.

*The man reflected on his self-conscious behavior at the meeting with the Queen.*

Obviously, 'behavior' is just an action, not something that can think. The 'self-conscious' notion is applicable because the behavior is part of a sentient being.

The same idea is at work behind 'sincere smile' also.

reph said:

"Self-conscious" is always an adjective.

The first thing to do when you want to know whether a word can be used a certain way is to see whether dictionaries have definitions for your proposed use and examples of it. The American Heritage Dictionary has "The dialect became a self-conscious prose poetry in her plays."

Why object to "self-conscious movements" when we accept "an insincere smile," "a clever idea," and "a defensive maneuver"?

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For me, there's a mountainous difference movements being self-conscious, and self-conscious movements, and the reason to reject this is because I doubt many people are going to understand it the first time through.
I don't believe it matches your examples at all for a couple of reasons.

If it jumps off the page as "movements are not self-conscious," it's bad writing, allowed or not. For me, this jumped off the page instantly,

I also see a big differene, a huge difference, between "self-conscious movements" and your examples. The examples you give are, to me at least, clearly attributable to the person, not the smile, the idea, or the maneuver, and most good writers show this in the context of the sentence. But even when they don't, I still see a big difference. "A clever idea is the only one that comes close to being the same, and I don't think it quite qualifies.

The real question, I think, is why would anyone want to write "self-conscious movements" when there are much better, and clearer, ways of writing the sentence?

"Is it allowed" is nearly always the wrong question. The right question is "Is there a better way of writing this"?

Jamesaritchie said:

The real question, I think, is why would anyone want to write "self-conscious movements" when there are much better, and clearer, ways of writing the sentence?

"Is it allowed" is nearly always the wrong question. The right question is "Is there a better way of writing this"?

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Well, one might write "awkward steps" or "affected gestures" or "twitches of embarrassment" or something else. (I don't have the context that would aid a choice.) I only tried to answer the original question, which was approximately whether "self-conscious movements" had to be avoided because movements don't have consciousness.

To me, "his self-conscious movements" describes him, not the movements, so that might work, like "nervous movements" or "there's that nervous moment" -- they all actually describe the person(s). It might work, but very ineffective. That's just me.

Lee G. said:

Is self-conscious always an adverb? For example, could I write: His movements were self-conscious. Or must I always write: He moved self-consciously?

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I don't mind both but neither sound good. I usually avoid saying "self-conscious" - come to think of it - is there any other word that would aptly replace that but means exactly the same? I checked the thesaurus but am happy with none of the result.

How about ...

Natasya said:

I don't mind both but neither sound good. I usually avoid saying "self-conscious" - come to think of it - is there any other word that would aptly replace that but means exactly the same? I checked the thesaurus but am happy with none of the result.

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Conspicuous?

"Conspicuous" doesn't mean self-conscious.