conjugate
Compulsive punster and insatiable reader, and
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« on: October 31, 2009, 07:34:05 PM » |
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You know what would be an interesting thread, Conjugate? verbs that have become nouned and nouns that have become verbed.
Yes, that would! Do you want to start it, or should I? Where will we put it? I can't see anything more appropriate than Meet and Greet (though We Speak Volumes comes close). You start, being the more active verb yourself. I'm just a gerund or participle. Maybe 'we speak volumes'? Very well. Several people have argued against the use of "impact" as a verb (as well as against the metaphorical use as a noun; the impact of an idea in a field, for instance). This usually gets a good discussion going, in which the OED is cited. There are quite a few other nouns that get turned into verbs and verbs that get turned into nouns as well. In part, this is because of English's hybrid roots (as I understand this, being no linguist); the cross-breeding of a Germanic language (with its noun-based structure) and Latin (which is famously based on verbs) gives us a rich variety of each part of speech with which to work. A few suggestions for this thread: Back formations (such as burgle, which is the deed committed by a burglar) don't really count. To Google, of course, counts; we take the proper noun Google and just make a verb of it. There are examples going both ways in English. However, related verbs and nouns (such as breaking and breakage) don't count. I'm unsure about the noun break as in Them's the breaks, kiddo. Is this a verb turned to a noun, or merely a related noun? Is it related to the break of This could be my big break, and are either related to the verb? As you see, neither TM nor I were sure this was the right place for this thread, but it seemed as good as any. What other verbed nouns or nouned verbs are of interest? |
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Unfortunately, I think conjugate gives good advice.
∀ε>0∃δ>0∋|x–a|<δ⇒|ƒ(x)-ƒ(a)|<ε |
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octoprof
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Life is short. Love your loved ones while you can.
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« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2009, 07:49:11 PM » |
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Friend your friends on Facebook. I friended my friends. Can you boyfriend your boyfriend? Can you enemy your enemy or acquaintance your acquaintance? Inquiring minds want to be minded, inquiringly.
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It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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terpsichore
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« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2009, 10:23:40 PM » |
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Thank you for conjuring up this thread, conjugate.
Access, long a lovely noun, has been verbized. Verbled? Verbed?
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galactic_hedgehog
Procrastinating, Python-quoting, Blue Blazer-drinking, chocolate-chip cookie-eating, Pastafarian, Not So
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« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2009, 10:55:40 PM » |
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From sports: defensing. Blech.
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"A pun is primâ facie an insult to the person you are talking with. It implies utter indifference to or sublime contempt for his remarks, no matter how serious." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Hedgie loves to read. |
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magistra
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« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2009, 10:59:38 PM » |
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"Weekend" and "antique" as verbs. "We're weekending on the Cape, where we plan to go antiquing!"
What's wrong with shopping? For both, really.
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First it was Wolfram and Hart, now it's Blackboard. There's not much moral difference, if you ask me. -- Malcha
Grammar is the chocolate in the buttery croissant of life. -- Yellowtractor
Okay, so that was petty. Today, I feel like embracing pettiness. -- Mended Drum
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2009, 11:02:41 PM » |
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When I entered college, I was amazed to find that some people "summered" in certain places and sometimes even "wintered" in others. It wasn't really the grammar that was the revelation, though.
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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galactic_hedgehog
Procrastinating, Python-quoting, Blue Blazer-drinking, chocolate-chip cookie-eating, Pastafarian, Not So
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« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2009, 11:11:57 PM » |
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"Weekend" and "antique" as verbs. "We're weekending on the Cape, where we plan to go antiquing!"
What's wrong with shopping? For both, really.
Now I'm thinking of Strunk and White's line: "Why use moisturize when there is the simple, unpretentious word moisten?" |
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"A pun is primâ facie an insult to the person you are talking with. It implies utter indifference to or sublime contempt for his remarks, no matter how serious." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Hedgie loves to read. |
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oldadjunct
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« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2009, 12:15:58 AM » |
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"Weekend" and "antique" as verbs. "We're weekending on the Cape, where we plan to go antiquing!"
What's wrong with shopping? For both, really.
Now I'm thinking of Strunk and White's line: "Why use moisturize when there is the simple, unpretentious word moisten?" Are we really complaining that English gives us the ability to make fine syntactic and definitional distinctions with two-to-three letters rather than either inventing a new word (Romance languages) or complex add-ons (German)? Would anyone really prefer "we leave tomorrow forgoingshoppingforolditems"? I think we enjoy the ability to say exactly what we will be shopping for with the addition of three letters to a noun. Does anyone really not want an easy way to distinguish between a moistened (slightly wet) towel and moisturized (able to hold moisture within our skin)? Do you really regret the ability to distinguish your intention with a cloth on the ironing board to your skin to the extent that you would trade a few letters for an entirely new word? I fully grant that abuse of English's flexibility is often infelicitous if not ridiculous. Witness "defensing", a verb (defend), turned to a noun (defense), sadly turned to a gerund (defensing). I realize (really mean (wait, that doesn't work)) that my analysis (analyze) will cause some annoyance (annoy). But my purpose (would you really prefer "While I purpose my statement to be... you may disagree"?) Or is your preference..... "With great power [English] comes great responsibility [users of English]." |
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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Fiction is baseball; Rhetoric is football.
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verbena
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« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2009, 10:33:03 AM » |
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And here I always thought "she summered, she wintered, she sprang, she fell" was a line from e. e. cummings, but now I'm not sure where I got that from.
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"My kind of paper, into lots of fiber."
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conjugate
Compulsive punster and insatiable reader, and
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Posts: 16,690
Tends to have warped sense of humor
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« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2009, 10:46:09 AM » |
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And here I always thought "she summered, she wintered, she sprang, she fell" was a line from e. e. cummings, but now I'm not sure where I got that from.
Well, Google Books gives me "Down home with Jennie Allen" by Grace Donworth (1910): This link |
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Unfortunately, I think conjugate gives good advice.
∀ε>0∃δ>0∋|x–a|<δ⇒|ƒ(x)-ƒ(a)|<ε |
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
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Posts: 4,241
Who knew?
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« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2009, 11:20:11 AM » |
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What about adverbs/prepositions used as verbs? As in "ups" something. Bleh!
Don't get me started on "enthused."
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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eumaios
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« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2009, 01:07:51 PM » |
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"Office" as a verb makes me grind my teeth. The one and only time I had a reason to call a Hollywood publicist, the person who answered the phone said, "I'm sorry, but he doesn't office here anymore."
I've heard "conversate" on TV a few times, and some of my students have used it in speech and writing. Converse (v) > Conversation (n) > Conversate (because the original verb is worn out, I guess).
Personally, I refuse to conversate with anybody who uses "office" as a verb.
Let's not forget military terms such as to "attrit" the enemy (which one needs to do in a war of attrition) or "surveil" the enemy's position (which is quicker than doing surveillance).
Thanks for starting the thread, Conjugate. I'm glad we forumites are interfacing on this topic.
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 4,241
Who knew?
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« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2009, 01:13:14 PM » |
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"Weekend" and "antique" as verbs. "We're weekending on the Cape, where we plan to go antiquing!"
What's wrong with shopping? For both, really.
Now I'm thinking of Strunk and White's line: "Why use moisturize when there is the simple, unpretentious word moisten?" Are we really complaining that English gives us the ability to make fine syntactic and definitional distinctions with two-to-three letters rather than either inventing a new word (Romance languages) or complex add-ons (German)? Would anyone really prefer "we leave tomorrow forgoingshoppingforolditems"? I think we enjoy the ability to say exactly what we will be shopping for with the addition of three letters to a noun. Does anyone really not want an easy way to distinguish between a moistened (slightly wet) towel and moisturized (able to hold moisture within our skin)? Do you really regret the ability to distinguish your intention with a cloth on the ironing board to your skin to the extent that you would trade a few letters for an entirely new word? What's wrong with "we leave tomorrow to go antique shopping (or hunting)," praytell? |
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 4,241
Who knew?
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« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2009, 01:14:47 PM » |
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"Office" as a verb makes me grind my teeth. The one and only time I had a reason to call a Hollywood publicist, the person who answered the phone said, "I'm sorry, but he doesn't office here anymore."
I've heard "conversate" on TV a few times, and some of my students have used it in speech and writing. Converse (v) > Conversation (n) > Conversate (because the original verb is worn out, I guess).
Personally, I refuse to conversate with anybody who uses "office" as a verb.
I'm on our IACUC; I correct "euthanatize" routinely to "euthanize." Fortunately, I don't have to "conversate" with the perps. |
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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hestia
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« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2009, 08:07:13 PM » |
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What drives me nuts is "orientate," which is at best a monstrous outgrowth backformation of a verb from another verb derived from a noun.
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"'What-ho! that absolutely whangs the nail over the crumpet.'" Dorothy Sayers
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