"Albert, you're already drunk! Stop it!" she implored him.
"Nah, if I stop drinking, I won't have an excuse to miss work tommorrow!" he joked around.
I am wondering if it's possible to use phrasal verbs like "joked around" in our dialog tags. Also, aside phrasal verbs, is it possible to not even use a verb in our dialog tags? I can't imagine it being possible, but I thought maybe someone had an example in mind where we don't use any verb or phrasal verb at all.
Answer
In English, the dialogue tags you want to be using most of the time are "said" and "asked". "Answered"/"replied" is also OK. Those dialogue tags are transparent, as it where - our mind slides off them, we do not linger.
You can add some nuance, if you need: "he said with a smile" or "he said angrily". But it's better that the smile, the anger, etc. are evident from the words being said, rather than added in a description tag.
Other dialogue tags, like "implored" are a way of giving extra emphasis. They should be used sparingly. The same way you wouldn't put an exclamation mark after every single sentence in your text.
"He joked around" should not be used as a dialogue tag - joking around is not a way of saying things. Same goes for things that aren't verbs at all.
You can, on the other hand, leave multiple lines completely without dialogue tags, so long as it's clear who's saying what. This is particularly true in scenes with only two characters present.
So, to sum up, don't overthink dialogue tags. Don't try to get creative. Use the simplest tools that would do the job.
This advice is only true of English writing - other languages, like French and Russian have a different view on this matter. And it is true only of modern writing - if you wish to imitate something from an earlier period, you'd want to look at literature from that time and find our what dialogue tags were common back then.
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