Literary notes about Buzz (AI summary)
The word "buzz" in literature operates on several levels, from the literal to the metaphorical. Authors deploy it to evoke the persistent hum of conversation and crowd dynamics—as when a noble hall is filled with the ceaseless buzz of voices ([1], [2], [3])—or to describe the natural, sometimes ominous, sound of insects in the background ([4], [5], [6]). It also functions as an emotive metaphor, capturing the inner state of characters, whether it’s the nervous hum of thoughts or the charged anticipation of social settings ([7], [8], [9]). This multifaceted use of "buzz" enables writers to richly layer descriptions of both external environments and internal sensations, bridging the gap between natural sound and human emotion.
- In the noblemen’s hall there was an incessant movement and buzz of voices.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - There was a buzz of loud conversation on all sides.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - In a moment he had so kneaded together the social dough that the drawing-room became very lively, and there was a merry buzz of voices.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - A fly flew up suddenly and struck the window pane with a plaintive buzz.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - [animals that buzz] insect, bug; bee, mosquito, wasp, fly.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air
— from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson - I sit here sometimes thinking, thinking, till my head fairly begins to buzz.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - A low buzz of admiration swept through the assemblage.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - You walked into the waiting-room, into a great buzz of conversation, and there was everybody; you knew almost everybody.
— from Bliss, and other stories by Katherine Mansfield
