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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2005
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I agree completely with Anu about the clumsy practice of creating verbs from nouns by adding "ize," but almost as bad are people who use nouns such as "impact" and "access" as verbs. The latest noun to suffer such misuse is "transition." Whatever happened to "move?"
Last edited by bilkirk; 04/21/08 04:36 PM.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Why do people hate verbing nouns so much? And why can't you talk about verbing nouns without using the noun verb as a verb?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Why do people hate verbing nouns so much?
I've never figured this out. English has been doing it since at least the Middle English period (1100–1450).
And why can't you talk about verbing nouns without using the noun verb as a verb?
You can call them denominal verbs if, like me, you were so inclined. There are deadjectival verbs, too, and deverbal nouns.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
You can call them denominal verbs if, like me, you were so inclined. There are deadjectival verbs, too But then they might be confused with dead jectival verbs mightn't they? 
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
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The latest noun to suffer such misuse is "transition." Whatever happened to "move?" I don't object to 'verbing' nouns per se, but this seems to be a case of unnecessary obfuscation. It's like the amusing propensity of those police who can't seem to speak to the mass media without talking about "a deceased male person" when they mean "a dead man" or telling you they have "neutralized a potentially viable device" when they mean they defused a bomb. In my opinion good English usage avoids adding more syllables just to make your speech sound more impressive. Keep it simple unless the more exotic word actually adds meaning or emphasis. Only use a big word when a smaller word won't do. If you can use 'change' or 'move' to mean the same thing, then say 'change' or 'move' in preference to 'transition.' But there may be contexts where 'transition' conveys a sense that those words or other synonyms don't.
Last edited by The Pook; 04/22/08 12:16 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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But then they might be confused with dead jectival verbs mightn't they?
Was you ever bit by a dead bee? Yes, death jackals.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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old hand
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old hand
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You gotta be careful of dead bees...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I agree completely that incentivize is an awkward, unnecessary word, when we have the perfectly good incent.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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incentivize Same with jeopard and jeopardize ( link).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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You gotta be careful of dead bees... You're all right, ( link).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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