There are dozens of ways to say “said!” Here are 154 of them!
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away–in other words, back in 1977–my mom gave me a copy of the Readers Digest “Family Word Finder.” As you’ve probably figured out from its title, it’s a thesaurus and its age certainly a witness to how long I’ve been writing. I recently had that book out and discovered a typewritten (yes, typed, like in manual typewriter) list. It contained alternatives (but not quite synonyms) for using “said” in dialog. (BTW, I wrote my first novel on a manual typewriter.)
I remember having a lot of fun creating this list. However, there’s a caveat, especially if you’re addicted to words like myself. Granted, using these appropriately can contribute to imagery, emotion, and clarity. However, using them too frequently can be as grating as having “he said” or “she said” on every line.
In other words, like adding herbs and spices to a soup kettle, use them sparingly, as 
flavor enhancers, if you will. Be subtle, not glaring, which makes them all the more powerful. Used improperly or excessively, you could wind up with the literary equivalent of adding cinnamon instead of cumin to your chili. Properly administered, they’ll help create dynamic and convincing dialog, a critical component of outstanding fiction.
Without further ado, here we go. Feel free to add any I missed in the comments!
- accused
- acknowledged
- added
- admitted
- advised
- affirmed
- agreed
- announced
- answered
- apologized
- argued
- asked
- asserted
- assured
- avowed
- babbled
- barked
- bellowed
- begged
- blubbered
- blurted out
- bragged
- breathed
- burst out
- cackled
- called
- cautioned
- challenged
- chattered
- chirped
- choked
- claimed
- chortled
- clipped
- coerced
- complained
- conceded
- concluded
- confessed
- confided
- consoled
- continued
- cooed
- corrected
- cried
- croaked
- decided
- declared
- demanded
- denied
- disclosed
- divulged
- drawled
- echoed
- emphasized
- estimated
- explained
- exploded
- figured
- gasped
- greeted
- groaned
- groused
- growled
- grumbled
- grunted
- guessed
- gulped
- hissed
- hinted
- hollered
- implied
- inquired
- intimated
- insisted
- instructed
- interjected
- interrupted
- iterated
- joked
- laughed
- lied
- maintained
- mentioned
- mimicked
- moaned
- mumbled
- murmured
- mused
- muttered
- offered
- ordered
- panted
- parroted
- pleaded
- pointed out
- pouted
- prayed
- probed
- proclaimed
- prodded
- promised
- proposed
- protested
- purred
- quipped
- rambled
- ranted
- recounted
- reiterated
- related
- relented
- retorted
- reminded
- repeated
- replied
- reported
- resolved
- returned
- revealed
- scoffed
- scowled
- screeched
- shouted
- shrugged
- sighed
- smirked
- snapped
- sneered
- sniffed
- snittered
- snorted
- sobbed
- speculated
- sputtered
- squeaked
- stammered
- stated
- stipulated
- suggested
- teased
- theorized
- threatened
- uttered
- vocalized
- volunteered
- vowed
- wailed
- warned
- whimpered
- whispered
- wished
- wondered
- yelled
Marcha's Two-Cents Worth 