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Q&A Is it correct to use verbs like "sighed" and "laughed" as dialogue tags?

In other words, is it correct to write something like this: "Oh," he laughed. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today." (Every time I see something like this, I think: "How is this peson la...

1 answer  ·  posted 11y ago by Alexandro Chen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:55:26Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/8121
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Alexandro Chen‭ · 2019-12-08T02:55:26Z (almost 5 years ago)
In other words, is it correct to write something like this:

> "Oh," he laughed. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today."

(Every time I see something like this, I think: "How is this peson laughing an talking at the same time? But other times seems OK for me. Strange.)

as an shorter version of this?

> "Oh," he said with a laugh. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today."
> 
> "Oh," he said laughing. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today."

Other example:

> "OK," she said with a sigh. "Just this time."
> 
> "OK," she said, sighing. "Just this time."
> 
> "OK," she sighed. "Just this time."

Because I've noticed by dialogues are cluttering with "withs" all of the sudden.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2013-06-11T13:48:58Z (over 11 years ago)
Original score: 6