"tried to swallow in a dry throat"

[AeonGrey]

Has anyone ever tried to count up how many times Frank Herbert uses the phrase "tried to swallow" in a dry throat?  I'm reading Soul Catcher and it's in here a bunch of times.  I'm not criticizing, I just think it's kind of funny.  I remember it was in every Dune book at least 3-5 times.

[Khan]

Maybe he had a saliva thing ;)

Edit: I think this belongs in the Duniverse though

[Khan]

Wow, I feel pretty bad now that no one's replied. In all seriousness, when people get nervous there throats just dry out. He probably put it in a lot because it's easy to identify with, and everyone's throat is probably dry on Arrakis.

[Vanguard3000]

Well, a dry throat is a common symptom of nervousness and/or fear.  I haven't noticed his frequency in using the term, however.

[AeonGrey]

Er....I'm not a moron.  I understand what the hell a dry throat means.

I just really think that Frank Herbert uses the exact term "tried to swallow in a dry throat" quite a bit.  Not that I have a problem with it.  It's just funny to imagine Frank sitting their writing thinking to himself:

"Hmmm...this paragraph is great, but it's missing something....something....ah! 'tried to swallow in a dry throat'!"

[Andrew]

He does use it often. But it is dry on arrakis. :P

Not as bad as something with the CoD miniseries that they repeat for every CGI shot. I'm not gonna say it because it ruined the miniseries quite a bit when I found it out.

Here it is (Spoilers that will make the CoD miniseries less fun to watch)

[hide]They show the sun in the background in every shot. It is so annoying.[/hide]

[Caid Ivik]

Very common was also licking of the upper lip.

[AeonGrey]

He does use it often. But it is dry on arrakis. :P

I understand, but the reason I brought it up is that he uses it a bunch in Soul Catcher too.  I could swear there was another of his books that it was in a lot.  I just think it's funny that he seems to have this kind of "signature" thing.  I think it's great.  It's used mostly to convey the person's anxiety or fear.  And it's something that happens a lot.  I've been in situations with customers at work and stuff that were pretty tense, and that's exactly what happens.  Your throat dries out and you find yourself trying to swallow to make it better.