Imagine you are creating an everyday conversation of a fairly happy couple lunching at an outdoor cafe. The idea is to make it sound ordinary but still drop in some clues about the problems looming just beyond the horizon. However, you tire of using the ubiquitous  “said” after every sentence of dialog.

“How was your day?” she intones.

“The new president has made some unusual requests,”  he articulates.

“They cannot be as strange as what Mr. Rossi asked for today,” she utters.

“How would  you know?” he rejoins.

This couple already has deep problems beyond bizarre requests from the new president and Mr. Rossi.  They are tedious, and the intellectual verbs used to replace “said” trend to drip with boredom. So, let’s try to add a little more feeling to the conversation and use words that are stronger.

“How was your day?” she queries.

“The new president has made some…