Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How should I write "shush" in a narrative?

It's a transliteration of a sound, so write what you hear. If it's one long sound you write Shhhhhhhh! (however many Hs amuse you) If it's a short one, you write Shhh! with three Hs. O...

posted 10y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:22Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10530
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:25:50Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10530
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T03:25:50Z (over 4 years ago)
It's a transliteration of a sound, so write what you hear. If it's one long sound you write

> Shhhhhhhh!

(however many Hs amuse you)

If it's a short one, you write

> Shhh!

with three Hs. One or two look like a typo (_Sh!_ and _Shh!_). Four and it becomes the long version.

Sometimes I actually say the word "Shush!" so I'd write that word, but that's not the _shhh!_ sound you're after.

If your speaker is actually repeating the short sound over and over (so there's absolutely no sustain on the hiss, as if you were trying to say "she" and stuttering), then your first example is correct.

> He began to whimper.   
> "Shshshshsh, baby, don't cry," she soothed him.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2014-03-17T17:25:45Z (about 10 years ago)
Original score: 8