#z-bone bass fishing

[writinggeisha]

Your first mental image when thinking about lips or mouths might be a passionate kiss. Percy Bysshe Shelley said “Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.” However, lips and mouths are more than kissing (or eating) machines. This post provides hundreds of ways to describe them in creative writing and poetry.

Emotion Beats

The way people move their lips and mouths reflects overt or hidden emotions.

Pouting might indicate agitation, aggravation, confusion, contemplation, disapproval, disbelief, dislike, exasperation, flirtatiousness, impatience, irritability, nervousness, pessimism, resentment, sadness, skepticism, suspicion, wariness, worry, et al.

In fact, pouting can imply so many emotions that it’s probably best to consider alternative body language.

A few more emotions mirrored by lips and mouths include:

Adulation, arousal, flirtatiousness Parted lips Running tongue over the lips

Anticipation of a delicious snack or entrée Smacking the lips Watering/salivating mouth

Determination Pressing lips into a thin line

Dislike Pressing lips into a thin line

Fear Bad taste in the mouth Chewing on lips Clenched mouth Dry mouth Gaping mouth Gulping huge mouthfuls of air Licking the lips Trembling lips

Impatience Pinched lips

Repressed hatred Pressing lips into a thin line

Shyness Pinched lips

Skepticism Biting the lips

Stubbornness Tight lips or mouth

Uncertainty Forceful exhalation through pursed lips

Adjectives (1)

Adjectives such as haughty save words by telling about a character’s motives or personality. Use sparingly. They function well in flash fiction or third-person omniscient point of view, and when you want to speed the pace.

Several adjectives, when describing lips, may suggest something different when describing mouths.

Provocative lips might indicate a seductive tone, but a provocative mouth might be aggravating.

Demanding lips evoke a sexual image, whereas a demanding mouth implies an overbearing character.

Generous lips might be large, or they might be yielding and responsive. Provide context if necessary.

Rather than modify lips or mouth, a number of the following words could refer to faces, expressions, or motivations.

Many skin attributes also perform well as lips and mouth descriptors.

A Active, adulterous, adventurous, affectionate, aflame, aggressive, alluring, amorous, amorphous, ample, appealing, ardent, audacious, avid, awkward

B Barbarous, belligerent, bewitching, bitchy, bitter, bloody, bone-dry, bony, Botoxed, boyish, brash, brutal, busy

C Cadaverous, callous, capable, capacious, careworn, carnivorous, caustic, cautious, cavernous, chaste, cheerful, cheery, childlike, clumsy, coarse, coherent, cold, complacent, conspicuous, contemptuous, corrugated, critical, crooked, cruel, crumpled, cynical

D Dainty, dead, delectable, delicate, delicious, demanding, demure, desirous, desiccated, determined, devilish, disdainful, dispirited, disrespectful, dissatisfied, doll-like, dour, downcast, droll, dry

E Eager, effeminate, elastic, electric, eloquent, energetic, enigmatic, enthusiastic, evil, expectant, experienced, expressionless, expressive, exquisite

F Fascinating, fevered, feverish, fine, firm, flaccid, flat, flawless, fleshy, flexible, flirtatious, foolish, forceful, formless, foul, fragile, fragrant, frigid, frothy, full, furrowed, furtive

G Generous, gentle, girlie, girlish, glassy, glib, glossy, gnomish, goofy, grave, greasy, greedy, grim, grotesque

H Hard, haughty, heartless, heavy, helpless, heretical, hesitant, honeyed, hungry

I Icy, impassioned, impassive, impatient, imperious, impertinent, impetuous, implacable, impudent, incoherent, inflamed, inflexible, innocent, insatiable, inscrutable, insubstantial, intractable, inviolate, irreverent

J Juicy

K Kissable

L Lax, leathery, lecherous, lewd, libelous, libidinous, licentious, lifeless, loathsome, loose, lopsided, lovable, luscious, lush, lustful

M Malicious, manly, masculine, masterful, meager, meaty, merciless, merry, mischievous, misshapen, moist, motionless, mute, mutinous

N Narrow, nasty, naughty, nervous, numb

O Obstinate, oily, oversized

P Passionate, pathetic, pebbly, perfect, perfumed, petulant, pinched, piquant, playful, pliable, pliant, plump, practiced, prim, prodigious, profane, proficient, prominent, proud, provocative, puffy, pugnacious

Q Querulous

R Randy, rapacious, ravenous, raw, relentless, reluctant, repulsive, resolute, responsive, restless, reticent, reverent, rigid, ripe, rough, rubbery, ruthless

S Sacrilegious, sad, sarcastic, sardonic, sassy, satirical, saucy, savage, scabrous, scaly, scornful, scurrilous, seductive, sensitive, sensuous, serious, sexy, shapeless, shrunken, silent, silky, sinful, skillful, slack, slick, slippery, sloppy, smooth, soft, sore, sour, spicy, stained, starving, stern, sticky, stiff, stony, strong, stubborn, submissive, succulent, sulky, sullen, sultry, sunken, sweet, swollen

T Talented, tense, tentative, thick, thin, thirsty, tight, timid, toothless, tough, traitorous, tremulous, truculent

U Uncertain, uncooperative, unrelenting, unresponsive, unsatisfied, unsmiling, unwilling, unyielding, upturned

V Vacuous, virgin, voluble, voluptuous, voracious, vulgar

W Wanton, warm, waspish, waxen, well-cut, wet, wide, willing, winsome, wistful, withered, witty, wormy, worshipful, wrinkled, wry

Y Yielding, youthful

Adjectives (2): Upper Lip

Although some of these adjectives might suit lips or mouth, they excel for describing the upper lip:

A to Z Bifurcated, bushy, clean-shaven, furry, hairless, hairy, long, mustachioed, naked, perspiring, short, stubbly, sweaty, whiskered

Adjectives (3): Lower Lip

Likewise for the lower lip:

A to Z Droopy, exaggerated, floppy, generous, missing, non-existent, pendulous, sagging, soul-patched, split, square-cut

Adjectives (Misc.)

Besides describing lips and mouths, writers can:

Describe the teeth, or mention missing teeth

Describe a person’s smile.

Similes and Metaphors

When creating comparisons, familiar animals are a good place to start. Readers know what they look like and will conjure an immediate image of the lips so compared.

Some of the following act as adjectives, while others function best in as or like similes. For example:

Fred had horse lips.

Fred had lips that looked like they belonged on a horse.

A to Z Angel fish, apish, baboon, baboon’s butt, bestial, bovine, camel, Cheshire cat, chimpanzee, chipmunk, dead fish, duck, frog, giraffe, goldfish, horse, largemouth bass, leeches, lizard, porcupine’s back, raw oysters, reptilian, serpentine, simian, squirrel, toad, twin slugs, zebra

Other comparisons could include:

A to Z Ancient prunes, angel’s cheek, blow-up doll’s maw, bread dough, cherries, embers, glue, lily petals, overstuffed sausages, pincushion, pinecone, plum, pomegranate blossoms, raspberries, raw liver, rose petals, rosebuds, rubies, sandpaper, satin, suction cups, twin cacti, velvet, vise grips

And here are a few more thought starters:

Awkward as a newborn trying to find his mama’s nipple

Bigger than his ego

Deader than a slab of cement

Dry as the Sahara

Foul as an overflowing cesspit

Fragile as butterfly wings

Large as Texas

Like a cow chewing its cud

Moist like morning dew

More brutal than a pounding sledgehammer

Smelly as an old sock

Colors

Foods excel as color substitutes. Words such as cherry, bubble-gum, and tangerine capture color, scent, and taste.

In a modern novel, lipstick and stage makeup allow lips to be almost any color. Not so much in a Victorian-era piece.

A to F Anemone-pink, ashen, bloodless, bubble-gum, burgundy, carnelian, cherry, colorless, coral, coralline-red, cotton-candy, crimson, flamingo, florid, freckled

G to Z Golden, grey/gray, licorice-twist, pale, pallid, pasty, peach, pink, purple, red, rosy, ruddy, seashell-pink, sunburnt, sunset-scarlet, swarthy, tangerine, vermillion, wan, wine-red

See also 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors.

Shapes

Many of the following words function well in similes or can be converted to adjectives by adding suffixes such as –like, -ish, or –esque.

A to Z Apical, asymmetrical, bleeding heart, blimp, bow, cherry pie, cinnamon roll, cinnamon-heart, doughnut, fishy, goldfish, heart, inner tube, O-ring, peaked, petal (name specific flower), shapeless, shapely, sharp, stop sign, unsymmetrical, toilet boil, urinal, watermelon, wedding ring, yield sign

Verbs

Some verbs relay feelings or senses of the POV character, while others are appropriate for secondary players.

Consider antonyms. Rather than belittle, a mother’s lips might praise her child. Instead of relaxing his lips, an uptight worrywart might tense them.

You might prefer to pair many of these verbs with characters themselves rather than their body parts. Listen to your writer’s voice and choose what works best for you.

A to F Belittle, blister, burn, caress, clamp, clench, close, coax, coerce, compress, contort, crack, crimp, criticize, curl, denounce, deprecate, dribble, drool, entice, force, fuse

G to R Gossip, graze, heal, insult, kiss, loosen, lure, meld, open, perspire, practice, press, pucker, purse, quirk, relax, respond

S Salivate, scrunch, seal, slaver, slide, slither, slobber, smart, smooch, sparkle, spasm, spit, squirm, squish together, sting, stretch, suck, sweat, swell

T to Z Tempt, throb, tighten, tingle, turn down, turn up, twist, ulcerate, unlock, yield

Nouns

Inventing nouns to replace lips or mouth can lead to silent snickers while you hunch over your keyboard or pore through your favorite thesaurus. Try some of these:

A to L Bazoo, blower, bragger, cakehole, chops, doughnut disposal, doughnut hole, flycatcher, flytrap, food vacuum, gob, hatch, hot-air vent, jabberjaw, kisser, laughing gear

M to Z Maw, motormouth, mug slit, mush, muzzle, nagger, oral cavity, oral orifice, phiz slit, pie hole, puss, skull cave, soup sucker, trap, woofer, word hole, yap, yapper, yodeler

Props

Add humor, suspense, or atmosphere with well-chosen props.

Does your protagonist notice a roll of duct tape on the counter in his apartment—then whip around to see a face-masked intruder with a gag in hand? Duct tape + gag = kidnapping. Or maybe an amorous encounter. Or__________?

A to O Acne, asthma inhaler, baby bottle, blueberries, chewing tobacco, cigar, cigarette, coughing fit, dirt, duct tape, electric razor, facemask, flute, gag, glitter, handkerchief, intubation tube, kazoo, lipstick, mouth guard, mouth organ, mud pie, mustache, muzzle, nebulizer, oboe

P to Z Piercings, pimples, pipe, razor, scar, scuba regulator, sneezing, snorkel, soot, soother, spit, spit up, stain, straw, teeth, thumb, tic, tissue, tongue, toothpaste, toothpick, trumpet, veil, wart, whistle

Clichés and Idioms

Some narrators might warrant trite phrases, but it’s usually best to avoid them—except in dialogue.

All mouth and trousers: arrogant, brash, brazen

Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth: born privileged or wealthy

Button one’s lip: hush, keep quiet, shut up, stop talking

By word of mouth: orally, verbally, via gossip

Down in the mouth: dejected, depressed, glum, sad

Foam at the mouth: fume, rage, rant, seethe

Give some lip: disrespect, sass, speak rudely

Have a stiff upper lip: display fortitude, exercise restraint, remain resolute (in the face of adversity)

Have one’s heart in one’s mouth: be afraid, alarmed, apprehensive, or terrified

Leave a bad taste in one’s mouth: nauseate, repulse, disgust

Live hand to mouth: barely get by, eke out an existence, subsist

Lock lips: French kiss, kiss, smooch

Look a gift horse in the mouth: be ungrateful, find fault with a gift

Mouth off: rant, sass, sound off, spout

On everyone’s lips: popular topic of conversation, trending, widely discussed

Pay lip service: agree in public while personally dissenting, pretend to agree

Put one’s foot in one’s mouth: blurt, say something tactless; blunder

Seal one’s lips: keep a secret, keep classified

Shoot one’s mouth off: boast, brag, talk indiscreetly

Slip of the lip: inadvertent mistake (while speaking)

Stiff upper lip: fortitude, resignation, stoicism

Straight from the horse’s mouth: from a reliable source

Talk out of both sides of one’s mouth: contradict oneself, lie (usually to please the most people)

Through word of mouth: orally, person to person, verbally

Zip one’s lip: hush, say nothing, shut up, stop talking

[airadam]

Episode 101 : Staying Power

"Gotta risk a life just in order to make a living."

- Le$

This month, we keep things at a moderate-to-low tempo, allowing you to conserve some energy as autumn draws in; all you need to do is keep that head bobbing! 

If you're anywhere near Manchester, don't miss out on the Juice Crew on November 13th.

Twitter: @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Redman : The Saga Continues (Da Countdown)

Apologies for the sound quality - the vinyl I have sounds pretty grungy to begin with! This (from "Ill At Will Vol.1") was the first track I think I heard Redman talking about his Gilla House label on, and he is seriously hyped up! Killer beat too, and great use of the Dre sample for the opening and the hook.

Alchemist : Stuck To You

A nice beat from Alchemist's "Rapper's Best Friend" beat compilation, later used on the similarly named "Stuck On You" by Prodigy on his excellent "Return Of The Mac" mixtape.

Natural Elements : DroNEs

A new release from one of my favourite crews! Natural Elements spit lyrics about government surveillance over the beat from the classic "Clones" by The Roots. The call-and-response motif on the piano is a killer, and the beat as a whole is spare enough to avoid overpowering any MCs - as though that would ever be a concern with these three...

Raekwon : Nothing

One of those tracks where the radio version definitely has the edge over the uncensored album one! Raekwon stays bringing that low-key gangster talk on this cut from his latest LP, "The Wild". Production is by Frank G, who cooks up a nasty beat - slowing down a classic soul drum break and topping it all off with that vocal sample that forms the foundation of the hook.

Jay-Z ft. Frank Ocean : Caught Their Eyes

The vibe on this selection from "4:44" fits in pretty well here I think. Jay is in scalding form, talking about surviving the world around him on the first verse and then talking raw about the administrators of Prince's estate on the second. Production is by No I.D, who also gets points for finishing the track with the sample of Joseph Welch asking of Senator McCarthy "at long last, have you left no sense of decency?" - I wonder if we'll reach a political moment like that in the near future...

Count Bass D ft. Snoop Dogg : Too Much Pressure

Brand new 2017 release from two veterans in the art. Count Bass D comes through with some low-speed synth funk that perfectly suits the mellow Snoop vocals.

Terrace Martin presents The Pollyseeds : Chef Dubble E

The Pollyseeds are Terrace Martin's band, and they are seriously skilled musicians - those who caught them at Band on the Wall will have experienced that first-hand. Their new album "Sounds of Crenshaw Vol.1" is kind of jazzy, kind of groovy, definitely genuine and absolutely worth your time for a listen. I just love the low end on this one, bending along with the motif set by the rest of the musicians and forcing you to feel it as you turn the volume up!

Scram Jones ft. Saigon : No Surprise

Nice little track from the "Dead Giveaway" free EP - released exactly four years ago on Halloween 2013. Scram and Saigon tell their own stories of their introductions to Hip-Hop and how they came to work together on a chilled, guitar-led instrumental.

M-Dot ft. Method Man and Dominique Larue : Shine

I've only just found out that this record was released as a single, and that was all the way back in 2014! My first hearing of this was as part of the new "Ego And The Enemy" LP from Boston's M-Dot. If you think you hear an Eminem-ish tone on the closing verse, you're not the only one - I had to double-check the credits! Columbus MC Dominique Larue of the group Heresy is someone I hadn't heard before but will definitely be checking based on her bars here, and a feature from Meth just puts the icing on things. Soulplusmind provides the production - the change-up for the hook is what does it for me on this beat.

Dubbul O x Clay : Commence

Quality from the Room 2 camp out of Manchester. Dubbul O always heats up the mic and Clay gives him a solid beat to get busy on. Available as a "name your price" release on Bandcamp and once again...this B-side wins.

Ras Kass : Eyes Don't Lie

This is one of my headphone regulars finally finding its way onto the podcast! It's slightly awkward to mix with the "eyes don't lie" refrain being three bars rather than an even number, but that's just a concern for us DJs :) Ski produces this tune from Ras' "Institutionalized Vol. 2" mixtape, and Ras is excellent on the mic as per usual.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth : Get On The Mic (Instrumental)

Both of the Pete & CL albums are 100% must-owns for any Hip-Hop fan, and when I saw an instrumental version of "The Main Ingredient" on vinyl a while back, it had to be grabbed. Just enjoy Pete Rock's SP-1200 mastery on this one.

Dilated Peoples : Let Your Thoughts Fly Away

Big shout out to my man Gez, who bought me the excellent "Directors of Photography" album for my birthday a few years back! This is my favourite track on there, but at around 73bpm, a tough one to find other records to go with; I'd been saving it and found a great spot for it here. Diamond D kills it with this beat, another one with a slightly unusual bar count, putting some bump on a wicked jazz-rock sample. Rakaa Iriscience and Evidence go back and forth with short six-bar verses, coming through crystal clear at this laid-back speed.

Hus Kingpin ft. Milano Constantine and DJ Q-Bert : Serotonin High

When I heard that Big Ghost Ltd had produced an album, I had to get it - someone with such a well-documented high bar for what he considers to be hard enough (and a relentless disregard for the weak) would surely come through with the goods. He takes the helm for the "Cocaine Beach" project by NY-raised, L.A-resident MC Hus Kingpin (aka Lord Wavy), which is on that experimental street vibe that fans of someone like Roc Marciano will appreciate. This cut bangs along with the gravelly vibes of Hus and guest Milano Constantine of DITC painting street brushstroke over the top. The absolute capper, though, is the appearance of legendary turntablist DJ Q-Bert, who shows stunning control on his patterns here. Definitely an album to check - though a short one, at around 38 minutes.

Ken Dawg : Playa In Me

I picked up the "Mo Thugs Family Scriptures" album way back in 1996 for one reason - it was a bargain. I wasn't even into the Bone Thugs sound, but found a few gems on there that I enjoyed, and this was one of them. This was Ken Dawg's first release, and he was featured on projects as late as 2003. He may not have a deep catalogue or the most dazzling wordplay, but all the same he made a good record here!

Children Of Zeus : I Can't Wait

Konny Kon and Tyler Daly are continuing to build momentum towards the completion and release of their debut album, but for now they're feeding the people something to hold us over. The "The Story So Far..." compilation brings together all the tracks they've had out on Soundcloud and Bandcamp up to now (some of which you'll have heard on the podcast), and is an absolutely essential purchase. Soulful as always, this track is one of their latest releases, still bringing some sunshine as we approach the winter months!

The Cool Kids : Popcorn (Instrumental)

Found this one on the "Gone Fishing : Instrumentals" collection - truthfully, not even my favourite beat on there, but not only does the speed come in right where I need it to, but the vocal samples form a counterpoint to the Children of Zeus track that comes before!

Le$ : 45 South

I think Spotify Radio brought this one to my attention after a playlist of mine ran out, but it grabbed me on the first listen. Le$ is an MC out of Houston (but born in New Orleans) who's been associated with the Boss Hogg Outlawz and Curren$y's Jet Life click, and really seems to represent a new wave of talent coming from the city. He gives you some of what you might expect lyrically but definitely drops some other gems in amongst it all, weaving politics and street/industry politics into the mix. On the beat here is DJ Mr Rogers, with a slow track very much in the Houston tradition and perfect for a SLAB. I definitely need to sit down with the "Midnight Club" album off the back of this one!

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!