[quote=@BrokenPromise][url=https://i.imgur.com/ipPlw0D.jpg]There are more interesting alternatives TBH.[/url][/quote]
[i]"This is the worst writing advice I've ever seen," the user expostulated, "and it came from within the thread itself!"[/i]

Overusing descriptive speech tags is worse than just using said every time. While there are decent alternatives in the list, some of these are pretty ridiculous, like 'crabbed' and 'vociferated' and 'whickered'.

'Said' is fine. 'Said' blends in with the background, like salt on a meal. The brain glosses over it so easily because it's just assumed to be there.