1. Terrie000

    Terrie000 Member

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    Tree wall

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Terrie000, Jul 5, 2016.

    Hi,

    I want to describe walls of trees are surrounding my characters. Here is my sentence: "Her tenseness is relieved as they finally are stepping out of the imprisonment of tree walls"

    It just doesn't sound right to put two nouns next to each other? I guess tree is acting as an adjective here, that's what I want. How do I fix it? Treeful walls? And it is more than one tree... so shouldn't it be "trees walls"? You can tell I'm totally lost. I guess I can just replace that word with forest, but I want it to be more descriptive.

    Thanks!

    Terr
     
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  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    You could just say they escape from the imprisonment of the trees, and forget about calling it a wall. Or call it a wall of trees.
     
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  3. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    If you hit a golf ball in such a place that there's a wall of trees between you and the fairway, it's called ' being in jail'. You might be able to do something with that.
     
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  4. bonijean2

    bonijean2 Ancient Artists And Storytellers Rock

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    Or you could describe it as a forboding barrier of tall trees -
     
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  5. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    In world perhaps the location is named The Tree Wall? Or go with the other suggestions.
     
  6. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Not really related to your question, but would "tension" be a better word than "tenseness"?
     
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  7. Terrie000

    Terrie000 Member

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    According to the dictionary, tension is a feeling while tenseness is more of a physical state. At the moment, my character is quite tense physically, thus I think tenseness would fit better, that's all. I do understand people use the word tension more often than tenseness though.

    @minstrel - Tenseness = noun: (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense
    noun: the physical condition of being stretched or strained

    Tension =
    noun

    the feeling of being so nervous or worried that you cannot relax
    more...

    the nervous feeling that you have when you are reading or watching something very exciting or frightening
    more...

    the feeling caused by a lack of trust between people, groups, or countries who do not agree about something and may attack each other
    more...

    a situation in which opposing aims, ideas, or influences cause problems
    more...

    the degree to which something such as a rope or muscle is pulled tight
    more...
     
  8. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    A good point. But your readers might not have a dictionary handily available, or want to use one in order to understand a story.
     
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  9. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Physically, tension is when you've got, say, a rubber band stretched as tightly as it will go. I'm not sure how that would manifest itself in a human; perhaps Usain Bolt on the starting blocks?

    Mentally, it's when you've got something worrying you and you can't do anything about it but worry.

    I'd say your character is more mentally tense than physically. So, by your own logic, tension should win.



    Having said that, both words do the job, and which you use is a matter of personal taste; my taste is for tension. Although, I'd actually prefer stress...
     
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  10. Wayjor Frippery

    Wayjor Frippery Contributor Contributor

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    Grammatically, there's nothing wrong with this. You've created a compound noun, just like tree house, blue-green or rainforest. [compounds can be two words, hyphenated, or one word (there are no consistent rules governing this), so if you've made up the compound, you could say tree wall, tree-wall or treewall, and they'd all be valid]

    And...

    If you can have a brick wall made of bricks, there's no reason you can't have a tree wall made of trees.

    :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2016
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  11. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    As indicated by the rest, you're overthinking it. Noun phrases like this are a perfectly common part of English as a Germanic language.

    socket wrench
    car keys
    door handle
    glass window

    the list has now end....
     
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  12. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    I think you have a case of trying too hard. Sometimes the most obvious word is the best word - in your case, just use "forest".

    It's like, you wouldn't wanna read: "I looked into the two gelatinous balls located in his head." - The line, "I looked into his eyes" is by far the better sentence.

    Btw, YAY for Doraemon :cheerleader: A childhood favourite of mine!
     
  13. Terrie000

    Terrie000 Member

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    Ha! Thanks for all that replied. I will gain privilege to post my novel in the forum next week, hoping to get more feedback!

    @Mckk Grew up in Vietnam and we call him Doremon :p Childhood favorite cartoon book of mine!
     
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  14. Wayjor Frippery

    Wayjor Frippery Contributor Contributor

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    Speaking of overthinking it, so was I in my post above. Wrey's post quoted here is much the simpler answer. :agreed:
     
  15. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    But you're not Vietnamese? :p

    We called him Ding Dong in Cantonese actually :p then the author died and the rights changed and the name got changed to a more literal translation of the Japanese original Doraemon, which sounds awful.
     
  16. mashers

    mashers Contributor Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I prefer 'wall of trees', but to avoid repetition of 'of' you should probably change 'imprisonment' to an adjective. Finally, I think 'are finally stepping' sounds odd in this context. You've used a past tense ('relieved') along with ('are stepping'). This combination sounds a bit strange to me. I would reword the sentence as follows:

    "Her tenseness is relieved as they finally step out of the imprisoning wall of trees"
     
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  17. tonguetied

    tonguetied Contributor Contributor

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    Too late to help, but I think the word stockade gives me a feeling of a wall of trees, you would have to word your sentence differently to use it. BTW down in South Florida an Australian pest tree, Melaleuca, grows so thickly when left unchecked it does form an impenetrable barrier for any large animal such as a human, deer, etc., you have to find a path to get out of them.

    Oscar Leigh no harm/slander intended with the Australian pest tree reference.
     
  18. Terrie000

    Terrie000 Member

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    @Mckk you're Cantonese? I also am. I was born and raise in Vietnam, but family are Chinese. My exposure to Doremon is in Vietnamese, thus I never called him Ding Dong.

    Again, thank for more answers. I am ready to move on from this topic and continue on my story.
     
  19. Seraph751

    Seraph751 If I fell down the rabbit hole... Contributor

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    Nature's Cage? Description would tie it into your plot.
     
  20. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Ah really? Lei ho maaaa :D do you speak any Cantonese?

    I was born in Hong Kong but raised in England, so kinda bicultural like yourself.
     
  21. NeeNee

    NeeNee Member

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    I agree with the others your sentence doesn't read well. Try something like "As she stepped out of the forest she was relieved to be free of the wall of trees that had imprisoned them."
     
  22. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Walls of trees.
    Ranks of trees.
    Looming ranks of trees.
    Surrounding ranks of trees.
    Maze of trees.
    Tree prison.
    Tree enclosure.
    Stockade of trees.
    Tree stockade
     

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