"Idiomatic anomalies"?

A friend of mine has his first bite from an agent and I'm excited for him. Her main feedback was that his draft needs polishing because it has some "idiomatic anomalies". He couldn't fathom what this means. I've suggested it must mean stylistic things that jump out at the reader as unique (words, phrases), which you’re using too often for it to be a subtle effect. Sound about right?

Did she note anything in the manuscript itself? Like highlight or underline or circle an example?

Idiomatic anomalies sounds like a comment regarding phraseology, definitely. Maybe something that suggests a person's locale that doesn't match the characters. The novel I'm listening to right now has a lot of British English idioms that I have to stop and research what they are. But that fits the characters. If I were hearing these idioms from an American character, that would be a problem.

It's historical fiction set in China, so maybe he inconsistently used period-appropriate or location-appropriate words for things, other times resorting to more modern descriptions. I don't know yet whether she's marked what's troubling her, it'll be hard to satisfy her expectations if she hasn't.

Sounds like a really good way for an agent to impress a new client with her expertise. If I were being cynical, I'd suspect she does that every time.

He should consider himself lucky that he even got a response from an agent. With over a 97% rejection rate most agents simply don't respond. Even when they do they seldom offer comments, because it encourages responses. I agree with #4 in that this is probably a "canned" rejection letter.

The way the OP came up, that doesn't read like a rejection.

his first bite from an agent -- That phrase alone suggests the agent is interested and accepting the query, OR, is sending a Rewrite and Resubmit request. IF it was a reject, more than 90% of agents are a "no response is a no" type response these days.

The agent will "take if further" if he improves the draft and polishes it up, citing there are some inconsistencies and "idiomatic anomalies".

No direction as to examples of this. He's going to go through it this weekend trying to figure out what that means, clean up as best he can, then send it back.

Rewrite and Resubmit. :)

Agree with >2 gilroy: --it sounds like he used wording that pulled her out of the story...and in historical fiction that can mean using words or phrases that are too modern or just wrong for the time and place. Or it just might mean that he uses some words oddly. Has he had it critiqued by friends or a beta reader?

Yes, Rewrite and Resubmit. Never give up.

>9 Marissa_Doyle:, yup, and I was one of them, lol.

We (our critique group) have all offered to take another look for him if he's able to allow a day or two before he has to turn it around.