Substitutes for Said (A-D)
A) accused, acknowledged, acquiesced, added, addressed, ad-libbed, admitted, admonished, advised, advocated, affirmed, agreed, alleged, allowed, announced, answered, apologised, approved, argued, articulated, assented, asserted, assumed, assured, attacked, attested, averred, avowed.
B) babbled, baulked, bargained, bantered, barked, bawled, beckoned, began, begged, bellowed, blabbed, blasted, blubbered, blurted, boasted, boomed, bragged, brayed, breathed, bubbled.
C) cackled, called, cautioned, charged, chanted, chattered, cheered, chided, chimed in, chirped, chuckled, cited, choked, claimed, commanded, commented, complained, conceded, concluded, condescended, confessed, confided, consented, consoled, contested, contended, continued, contradicted, conveyed, cooed, corrected, counselled, countered, cracked, cried, criticised, croaked, crowed.
D) dared, debated, decided, declared, declined, decreed, decried, deduced, defended, deferred, delivered, demanded, demurred, denied, denounced, described, dictated, directed, disclosed, divulged, drawled, droned.
In the words of Stephen King, please don’t do this. It’s weak writing. The best way to handle dialogue attribution is with a description of the characters actions before or after the dialogue. People should know your character so well they know who is speaking by what they say. In a scene with only two people speaking you don’t even need them.