I want to say a place is so quiet

[alpacinou]

I want to say a place is so quiet. Can I use "echo with quiet?"

Is this okay?

The street echoed with quiet. Where was a bustling market once, now teemed with emptiness.

 

[emsr2d2]

I want to say a place is so very quiet. Can I use "echo with quiet?" Is this okay?

The street echoed with quiet. The area where there was once a bustling market once no comma here now teemed with emptiness.

Poetically, yes. It doesn't make logical sense because silence doesn't make a sound so it can't really echo. However, I'm going to say no to "teemed with emptiness". I don't think that works at all.

Reserve "so" for "so + adjective + that ...". Don't use it as an alternative to "very" unless you're making an exclamation like "Wow! It's so hot!" You needed a noun phrase to go with "now teemed with emptiness" - "Where" on its own didn't work. If you want to open with "Where there was once a bustling market", you need to follow it with "there was now [noun]".

 

[tedmc]

What about " What was once a bustling market is now empty and deserted"?

The word "teemed" means " to be filled with something", with doesn't go with "emptiness".

 

[Tarheel]

I would be careful about saying what's not happening. For example, if you say no birds were singing people will think about birds when they weren't before.

 

[alpacinou]

Poetically, yes. It doesn't make logical sense because silence doesn't make a sound so it can't really echo. However, I'm going to say no to "teemed with emptiness". I don't think that works at all.

Reserve "so" for "so + adjective + that ...". Don't use it as an alternative to "very" unless you're making an exclamation like "Wow! It's so hot!" You needed a noun phrase to go with "now teemed with emptiness" - "Where" on its own didn't work. If you want to open with "Where there was once a bustling market", you need to follow it with "there was now [noun]".

Are these okay?

1. The street echoed with quiet. The area where there was once a bustling market now was empty and still.

2. Where there was once a bustling market there was now an empty street that echoed with quiet.

 

[Tarheel]

I'm sure somebody will disagree with me. (Somebody already has.) However, I wouldn't use "echoed with quiet". Sound echoes. Silence doesn't. Since I wouldn't use the phrase, I can't comment on when it would be appropriate to do so. Perhaps: " It was still. And it was it was quiet."

I can hear an echo. I can't hear quiet.

I don't want to be negative, so ignore what I said.

 

[Skrej]

I'm okay with 'teemed with emptiness' as well as 'echoed with silence'.

To me, they both work as oxymorons - similar to a 'deafening silence'. Logically they don't work, but as an intentional poetic or literary device, they do.

 

[alpacinou]

I'm okay with 'teemed with emptiness' as well as 'echoed with silence'.

To me, they both work as oxymorons - similar to a 'deafening silence'. Logically they don't work, but as an intentional poetic or literary device, they do.

Are these okay?

1. The street echoed with quiet. The area where there was once a bustling market now was still, teeming with emptiness.


2. Where there was once a bustling market there was now an empty street that echoed with quiet.

 

[Tarheel]

1. It's a small sample size, but not everyone agrees.
2. Instead of the second "was" I would use "is" or delete "now" there.

 

[tedmc]

"Echo" does not go with "quietness/silence" even as a metaphor. The saying "silence is deafening" is a different kettle of fish.

How about "quiet(ness) pervades the street"?

 

[bopeng]

Poetically, yes. It doesn't make logical sense because silence doesn't make a sound so it can't really echo. However, I'm going to say no to "teemed with emptiness". I don't think that works at all.

Reserve "so" for "so + adjective + that ...". Don't use it as an alternative to "very" unless you're making an exclamation like "Wow! It's so hot!" You needed a noun phrase to go with "now teemed with emptiness" - "Where" on its own didn't work. If you want to open with "Where there was once a bustling market", you need to follow it with "there was now [noun]".

i'm with you. Because silence doesn't make a sound itself.

How about this? ‘The street (room) is so quiet. When you're speaking to yourself, you can even hear your voice's echo.'