Nouns as Verbs

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Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs Word Lady #177997 07/05/08 04:47 PM
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh	Don't you think that a modicum of verbification has added richness to our language? Folks use language to communicate. In doing so, they tend to use and mold their language to that purpose. It's a fairly normal phenomenon. English, like other fairly analytic languages (link), can easily use a word of one lexical category (link) as a different one (e.g., verbing nouns, nouning verbs) without resorting to affixation as in more synthetic languages (link), such as Latin. The tendency of some to abhor this natural and common linguistic process is more likely a transference of the general disdaining of novelty in the vocabulary, coupled with a loathing on any hint of polysemy. (And welcome to the board. I took a look at your blog, but you may want to fix the link.) Ceci n'est pas un seing.

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs zmjezhd #178000 07/05/08 06:41 PM
Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass	but, lest we forget: Verbing weirds language. - Hobbes

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs tsuwm #178002 07/05/08 06:53 PM
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803	Originally Posted By: tsuwm but, lest we forget: Verbing weirds language. - Hobbes Was that Hobbes or Calvin said that?

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs

Faldage #178004 07/05/08 07:02 PM

Joined: Apr 2000

Posts: 10,542

this too shall pass

tsuwm

Carpal Tunnel

tsuwm

Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Apr 2000

Posts: 10,542

this too shall pass

I think you're right, but it was Hobbes (as usual) that made the telling point:

Code:

Calvin:  I like to verb words.
Hobbes:  What?
Calvin:  I take nouns and adjectives and use them as 
         verbs. Remember when 'access' was a thing? 
         Now, it's something you do. It got verbed. 
         Verbing weirds language.
Hobbes:  Maybe we can eventually make language a 
         complete impediment to understanding.
 -Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs tsuwm #178006 07/05/08 07:08 PM
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803	Originally Posted By: tsuwm Code: Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes Hey, why not? We invented language so we could lie anyway.

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs Faldage #178044 07/06/08 10:11 PM
Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &... L latishya enthusiast
latishya enthusiast L Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &...	this article seems on-topic here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7457287.stm

Re: the quiddity of denominal verbs latishya #178045 07/06/08 11:31 PM
Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 876 western NY twosleepy old hand
twosleepy old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 876 western NY	Originally Posted By: latishya this article seems on-topic here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7457287.stm Been done: http://wordsmith.org/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=177771

My Ask twosleepy #178147 07/12/08 10:05 AM
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803	If y'all like verbing nouns, y'all'll love nouning verbs. Go ahead, read all the comments.

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