The “said” bit

Sometimes I’ll be trucking along, editing someone else’s short story or whatever, and I want to give them advice or whatever on the “said” bit. You know, like in “I’m ignorant,” he said. That last bit, where the sentence identifies the speaker. But I don’t know what the damn thing is called.

I’ve tried searching, but the internet has failed me. There has to be a term for that part of the sentence, but it eludes me. Oh, the humanity!

2 responses to “The “said” bit”

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  1. Todd Ransom says:

    Just make one up.

    You: I liked the overall flow of the story, but you need to be a little more expressive with your elocutionary identifiers.

    Him: What the heck is an elocutionary identifier?

    You: It’s the “he said” after someone speaks.

    Him: Wow, dude, you’re so smart…

    And then just bask in the glory…

    TR

  2. Ian Beck says:

    Ooh, elocutionary identifier is delightfully impossible to understand. I might have to drop that on someone just to see the glazed look steal over their eyes.

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