At 8:01 PM +0000 18/11/2003, Philip Bloom wrote:
> > Smiled is not a speech tag. Neither is nodded.
It is if the author chooses it to be. It's a stylistic thing.
You are wrong in your criticism of Thermopyle here Lurker. It is true, he
can use it stylisticially, but Therm is absolutely correct in pointing it
out as being wrong regardless.
A lot of people say that. I wonder how many of them have ever actually
bothered to LOOK IT UP?
In my dictionary (Oxford) I clearly find, under the verb "smile":
To exhibit, indicate or express by smiling; to grant, bestow, etc,
with a smile; with direct speech as obj., to say with a smile.
That last bit is pretty conclusive, don'cha think?
Yes, it IS correct to say:
"Hello," he smiled.
Stylistically, you may not like it. (I don't particularly like it
myself.) But it is NOT wrong.
Can we call an end to another grammatical myth, please?
Cheers,
Angus