I have the word on the tip of my tongue, and I can't get it on the page... Does anyone know how to describe the sound bones make as they hit each other? (I mean, hypothetically, of course bones don't hit each other when a human body moves.)
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
rattling? grating? probably depends on the bones and whether they're still inside a living body or not.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
Hum...Dead person, skin more or less falling to pieces (think zombie in a very bad state).
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
clicking? clacking? clattering?
Those are the words that come immediately to mind, except "rattling", which beth already mentioned. But then, I'm thinking skeleton, not zombies.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited October 10, 2006).]
Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :
My cadaver creaks a little, but doesn't make that much noise when we move him, in general.
(I'm a med student, for anyone who doesn't know me and might have been freaked out by that comment....)
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
ok, I'll go for "creak" (I have to admit I had a moment of doubt when I saw "my cadaver", but then I remembered ) Thanks!
Posted by LPMcGill (Member # 3923) on :
My cadaver rattles. But he's mummified. And is required to kill once every 300 years to take revenge on humanity for disturbing his grave. Otherwise he's a nice guy. Half the things that come out of his mouth are "Yo' Mamma" jokes, though. It can get very irritating. Sometimes I wonder why I keep him around.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
My cadaver is almost silent. sometimes there is a soft squishing sound when it runs into a wall or something. but it is quiet and sneaky.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
In the situation described, the bones would probably be a bit too slimey and soft to make much noise unless they get crunched. And because of decay and whatnot, the crunch would be a lot quieter than the crack of living bones getting broken.
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
crunch or crack for dried bones. For wet part fleshy ones I would think something alone the lines of "thwunk" or a wet slap (like a side of beef hitting the counter top).
Posted by oliverhouse (Member # 3432) on :
I keep expecting someone to say "grind", because that's how some real people I know -- not dead ones, either! -- describe the way their own bones sound to them because of arthritis, etc. Since no one has said it, though, here I am...
Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :
Grating creak.
Posted by Inkwell (Member # 1944) on :
If you're speaking in terms of, say, the spherical head of a femur and its accompanying pelvic socket 'hitting' each other...I would definitely go with 'grinding' or 'grating.' If you're talking about a neanderthal whacking two bleached femurs together to emphasize a gutteral point, 'crack,' 'snap,' 'pop,' and 'thwack' come to mind. Kinda like "...Uru brought the skeletal drumsticks together with a sickening crack." IMHO, I think italics emphasize the fact that the word is an audible sound nicely.
Inkwell ----------------- "The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp." -Anonymous
Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :
Even live bones can crunch, like when you shut a finger in a door or have a freak rib-breaking accident. It was similar to the sound of the collision of two VWs. I'm not sure if it was important that they were VWs. Aren't VWs somewhat better engineered?
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