Literary notes about Expletive (AI summary)
In literature the term "expletive" serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it appears as a burst of raw emotion—a curse or sharp interjection that reveals a character’s inner turmoil or spontaneous reaction, as when a character expresses deep disappointment or surprise [1][2][3]. On the other hand, it functions as a stylistic or grammatical filler that adds rhythm and emphasis without necessarily conveying profanity, operating more like a neutral linguistic placeholder in the narrative [4][5][6]. Authors use this versatile device both to animate character dialogue and to ornament sentence structure, enhancing the overall texture of their work—from a fleeting sigh that punctuates silence [7] to a forceful outcry that colors an entire scene.
- The vehemence with which Wallie uttered the expletive showed the extent of his disappointment.
— from The Dude Wrangler by Caroline Lockhart - ‘To whom do you belong?’ asks the Captain, probably adding to his question a forcible expletive.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - “Where are you, Shike?” he demanded again, this time with an impatient expletive summoned for the occasion.
— from Nan of Music Mountain by Frank H. (Frank Hamilton) Spearman - An infinitive in the predicate is often in apposition with the expletive subject it .
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - In this use, there is sometimes called an expletive (or “filler”).
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Noun clauses with that are common in the predicate when the expletive it is the grammatical subject ( § 120, 2 ).
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - she said; but this time her favorite expletive was hardly more than a sigh.
— from Judith of the Plains by Marie Manning
