: How similar is too similar? I have used the phrase: "There are not enough words in the tongues of men, elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, or beasts to describe how disgusting..." in a couple

I have used the phrase:

"There are not enough words in the tongues of men, elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, or beasts to describe how disgusting..."

in a couple of reviews of mine, which someone has pointed out is very similar to this:

"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men for this treachery." by Treebeard from Lord of the Rings

While the meaning of the sentence and the sentence structure are similar, they only share one or two words. Is this plagiarism, or just two similar sentences?

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@LarsenBagley300

I'm hoping those weren't restaurant reviews!

Also, IMHO, your phrase is a nod to Tolkien, a literary allusion. That is not plagiarism, any more than it would be plagiarism to say at the end of a review of a robotics show, "Next year, for sure, I'll be back."

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@Debbie451

I think it's the "tongues" which caught everyone's eye. That faux high English hearkens back to Tolkien's diction, which makes people recall his version.

Change it up. Rearrange the order and add a little hyperbole:

In all the dialects of all the languages of all the cultures of men, elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, or beasts, there are not enough words to describe how disgusting...

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: How similar is too similar? I have used the phrase: "There are not enough words in the tongues of men, elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, or beasts to describe how disgusting..." in a couple

More posts by @Caterina108

: Can i use the name of a real UK Prime Minister in a fictional Novel? I am writing a fictional novel that rewrites history surrounding the Gulf war. It involves at one point the actions of

: First, I'd like to clarify your use of "comet". A little googling indicates comets are typically measured at about 8 km = 5 mi. Something like that "landing in someone's back yard" would

: Can I use the same figure twice in a report? Is it alright to use the same figure twice (but different figure number) in a report? If so, do I have to use separate captions, to avoid confusion

: Intensity scale for romance novels? I've been looking about on #MSWL on Twitter, and I see editors using some kind of informal scale for the intensity of the sexual content in a romance novel.

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