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Because it's less intrusive. Anything you speak is something you say; "asking" is merely a more specific description of how the thing is being said. Some writing wisdom holds that using "said" is...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T03:17:49Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/9932 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
BESW
·
2019-12-08T03:17:49Z (over 4 years ago)
## Because it's less intrusive. Anything you speak is something you say; "asking" is merely a more specific description of how the thing is being said. Some writing wisdom holds that using "said" is lazy/boring, but always using specific descriptors like "asked" when the questioning tone is obvious from context can be equally disruptive to the flow of reading. "Said" doesn't call attention to itself like "asked" does, and lets the reader continue the conversation with minimal interruption. Overuse of more descriptive verbs may lead to [Tom Swifties](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swifty).
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2014-01-05T23:08:42Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 10