Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.
Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.Said.

That is not to say
More than two characters hashing it out in one conversation? Label that shit. One way or another. I don't want to guess who said that to whom. If it's a botox party and expressions are not physically possible, then bring on the tagging. I'd much rather endure an army of "said" than have to re-read snappy quips trying to figure out who's the genius, who's the ijit, and who's the referee.
When will I absolutely use dialogue tags? I'm a big fan of asides while characters are in a crowd, so there's muttering, mumbling, grumbling, growling (particularly for bestial characters).
I'm such a rebel, I'm not ashamed to throw in the occasional adverb into a dialogue tag when the words being spoken are in contrast to the emotion. Sarcasm, one of the harder things to communicate without incessant eye rolls and drolls.
I admit, there are a few tags to which I have an unhealthy attachment; particularly when I cough up the first draft of a novel. In my current WiP, my protagonist snorted more than a truffle pig. There may have been a side-kick who drawled so much he ought to have seen a doctor about his lack of muscle control.
All-in-all, my go-to for speaker-identification is action amid dialogue. Second-string are the tags that convey emotion. Court of last resort ... "said."
So, dear reader, am I the only one who notices "said" or are a few of you keeping my outlying dot company?
image originally found here: http://theinspiredclassroom.blogspot.com/2011/10/no-more-said.html