Situation: Carmin recently escaped a near attack from some stranger. She meets up with her friend, Otis and tells her about the almost attack. Otis feels the urge to protect Carmin, as this stranger could be dangerous. However, the only thing Carmin knows about her attacker, is that he is Otis's roommate. (Otis pointed him out earlier in the story to Carmin) Exert: He grabbed her shoulders, protectively. “Did he hurt you?” “Yes..well no...kinda. He grabbed my wrist and startled me. He didn’t say what he wanted from me. And so he was about to drag me somewhere, so I did what my heart told me to do. I kicked him, ran away and called the campus police.” What I need: I need to think of a word that Otis would say to show disgust towards his roomate's actions. I need something along the line of "that bastard!" but I don't want to use that phrase of dioluage, since this is a story aimed towards ten to fifteen year olds. Thoughts?
Vulture, skunk, snake, cockroach (roach). That is, a word that itself is not bad but when applied to a person shows what you think about him. Not in your context, but Parrot Donkey Carrot Potato Nutshell Are perfectly good words that when applied to a person says something about them.
'Certainly reprehensible behaviour...' ...although 'rigorous' study of your prose shows that he only held her wrist. So, I would fix that - clarity issue - also.
Creep, thats what I wanted to say! Thanks, @izzybot Carmin is talking to Otis about her attacker, not Otis himself. LOL
I follow @matwoolf in that you ought to make clear the attempt to drag off/abduct and the intention implied by that act. From there I figure you'd be forgiven for using an adjective to pull focus on what kind of creep/jerk/weasel he is. Filthy, slimy, dirty... < cue the thesaurus for those.
But to be fair, literally anything sounds like an insult when you say it the right way. Lawnchair Spidermonkey Moose Horn Squid Grain of Sand They all sound like insults if you say them in the right tone.
