Quote:
Originally Posted by TGS
Here's a quote from Last Night at Twisted River by John Irving
Now I, and I suspect most people unfamiliar with mid-twentieth century north American logging practices, have no idea what a "trip bunk" is. John Irving is not a stupid man and I am guessing he didn't assume that most of his readers would know what a "trip bunk" is. So, he included a noun that he knew that most people would not understand. Why do you think he did that?
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Well, this is a case where the knowledge of exactly what the object is, and how it functions is completely unnecessary to the story. All that you need to know about trip bunks is included in the text.
However, using what (I assume) is the correct name for the object, instead of a generic word like "catch", is the best thing to do; it gives the reader the impression that the writer knows what they're writing about — a pleasing verisimilitude to the work.