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  1. Stormsong07

    Stormsong07 Contributor Contributor

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    Is this actually a thing, or have I just read it in a fantasy novel somewhere?

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Stormsong07, Jan 12, 2019.

    OK, you know in the movies and stuff when a big flying beast is about to land and it changes how it's flapping it's wings from a down-and-up pattern to a sort of back and forth motion?

    Like here in this video at the 0:44-46 second mark.




    Am I just making this up, or is "The dragon backwinged to a landing" a legit thing I can use in my writing? Google Docs keeps telling me "backwinged" isn't a word.
    I'm just concerned that maybe some other author coined it and I don't want to get in trouble for using it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2019
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  2. Nariac

    Nariac Contributor Contributor

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    I think you can just say landed. Like, in the Song of Ice and Fire books (Game of Thrones etc), I'm pretty sure when a dragon lands on something that's just the word that is used. You can safely let the reader's imagination do the work. But if you use a word like "backwinged" there's a risk you'll pull the reader out of their immersion and remind them that somewhere there was an author desperately seeking the technical term for a flying creature landing. :p
     
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  3. jim onion

    jim onion New Member

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    A Google really only gave me a Wiktionary article that recognized the word, and some pictures (one on DeviantArt for example) titled "Backwinging Dragon". So as far as I can tell it doesn't seem to be an official word. No entries in online versions of Webster or anything official like that.

    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/backwing#English

    The only other option would be to describe the action I guess.

    If you search "backwinging duck" or "goose", it seems to be relatively common parlance in some niche communities.
     
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  4. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    "the dragon flared its wings for landing" - big birds do it all the time, you watch a buzzard or an eagle land they turn their wings to act as airbrakes to cut their forward momentum
     
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  5. Midge23

    Midge23 Active Member

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    You could say the dragon ‘flared’ its wings. Flared = broaden, widen, spread. A plane or helicopter ‘flares’ before landing.
     
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  6. Stormsong07

    Stormsong07 Contributor Contributor

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    Ah, flared. Yes, that ought to do it and avoid any problems. Thank you all for your input!
     
  7. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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