I mean, do you need to do a 360° for a movement to count as rolling, or is 20° enough if it is the same kind of movement?
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Whenever I read the expression in English or Portuguese (revirar os olhos), I always picture an exaggerated movement, even though, more often, it’s intended as just a slight movement upwards and back. 
So I keep imagining characters very dramatically rotating their eyes from one side to the other. That said I do use the expression sometimes, but it takes a sort of conscious effort.
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As a kid I took it literally and would absolutely do a 180 rotation from nine o’clock to three o’clock. Learned later in life that most people just go to twelve o’clock with no rotation at all. But I’d already cemented that as The Way That I Do It so now it’s set for life.
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Wrote a ghost story today that I’m quite pleased with. Two, actually, but the first one doesn’t count because it’s a very obvious pastiche of a famous story.
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I am very happy to be able to turn my wrist. Amazing. I’m raring to do so much stuff!
…unfortunately for my story progress, I’m doing more crafts than writing.
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If a man was described as “almost burly” how would y’all picture him?
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Taller/larger than average, but not by much. Not particularly muscular/fit. Maybe a bit unkempt in appearance.
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The “not particularly muscular or fit” is interesting, I would think the person was more muscular/fit than average but not enough to be called outright burly. Slightly unkempt is spot on though! I’m trying to put how I picture a character in my head into words and “almost burly” was the first thing that came to mind. Dad bod is close too but I don’t want that to be how I describe his looks lol
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I’d picture a man with high body fat but still clearly muscled.
This is rugby player Joe Jones.
I mean, this is already burly. So someone becoming that.
I dont think burly necessarily means unkempt, so maybe pair it with rugged? But what do I know? English is not my first language. Personally, I don’t like vague descriptors in fiction, like somewhat, somehow, almost, sort of, they take the punch out of it. Just my two cents.
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I would consider ‘husky’ or ‘on the burlier side’.
I think ‘almost’ carries diminutive implications that blur the image a bit - to me, almost is a failure word - almost stronger implies you’re weaker, almost successful implies failure.
So I think it might make some people assume the character isn’t of big build.
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“Was once burly, but now gone to fat, or perhaps lost weight due to illness.” Almost places an emphasis on the lack; there’s some essential reason why he’s not burly, and that is more important in this construction than the positive identifiers.
See also one of my favourite Hitchhiker’s Guide jokes, where Arthur Dent convinces the drink machine to give him something that is
…something almost, but not quite entirely unlike tea.
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Great tips guys! I’ll put more thought into it, I need to look up a thesaurus of adjectives or something, or describe the character more thoroughly instead of trying to find a single word to do it
Also that’s hilarious lmao
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I’d suggest “stout”, or “broad-chested,” something like that - a big guy, not a muscular guy, but width and solidity still implies a certain amount of power.
And yeah, I still miss Douglas Adams. One of the greats.
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Once again, I find myself agonizing over a choice of whether or not send an update to fix a bunch of minute issues with my game. A part of my brain is calling me obsessed, questioning my need to bother HG with stupid stuff nobody cares about. Another part is calling me a coward, afraid of a simple email interaction, finding excuses to avoid a simple chore.
I hate having free will.
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personally I wouldn’t?
I mean:
Almost short.
Almost thin.
Almost muscular.
Almost weak.
There are better ways to describe in general than “almost” for the majority of descriptors. The fact that you’re asking what people would think it means sort of proves that point.
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Anyone know if we’re allowed to have more than one forum account? I have an issue with paranoia, and I also have a game I’m working on that I don’t actually want associated with anything else I write because it could technically be traced to who I am offline. Hence, I don’t want to beta test the game as is required under the exact same forum username as I do the rest of my theoretical career. I swear at one point I saw that we weren’t allowed to, but now I can’t find anything about it.
I can ask an official source; however, before I bug them about this, I figured I’d see if someone recalls off the top of the dome where that rule is mentioned if it even exists. Didn’t see it in the forum rules post after all, so I’m not sure what my memory is of.
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That will 100% get you banned.
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Yeah, the amount of different responses I’m getting and how none of them picture the character how I envision tells me it’s not the best description, lol
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I would definitely reach out to cog and explain the situation. I think the spirit of the rule is to avoid users spamming the forum with fake accounts to either prop their work or tear someone else down. Personally, I think your case is reasonable enough to get an exception. But be sure to check with them first. And reaching out first shows good will.
PS: I would only do that when I have a work ready to put up in public. Otherwise it’s just hypothetical situation and it’s not worth bothering them. So when you’re ready to create a wip thread, that’s when I’d reach out to them with the inquiry.
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Thanks, y’all! I figured, but just wanted to check I wasn’t hallucinating this being a thing in the first place. And no worries, I have no plans to annoy them until such time this is more relevant, lol.
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