"grow" as a transitive verb

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#7354 - 10/05/00 01:56 PM "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York	Can anyone help me figure out why "grow crops" is just fine but "grow a business" is irksome? (or is it just me.... )

#7355 - 10/05/00 04:49 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 218 Brandon enthusiast
Brandon enthusiast Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 218 Mountain West, USA	why "grow crops" is just fine but "grow a business" is irksome? Perhaps it is because "grow" often refers to a natural process. When you "growing a business," you are more intimately involved with the clients and the marketing. Corn doesn't need much prompting to commence photosynthesis. Of course, I say this lightly and as I eat an apple that has more chemicals on it than my computer's motherboard.

#7356 - 10/05/00 05:02 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Jackie
Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky	Interesting question, Anna, You certainly hear "The business has grown" without a wince. Yet we say, "I want to expand my business". I think Brandon's right; it's a matter of usage.

#7357 - 10/05/00 06:10 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York	Thanks, Brandon and Jackie. We're getting somewhere. As Jackie said, though, I have no problem with the intransitive usage, e.g. "the business/economy is growing" ... maybe it does indeed have to do with the organic element (pesticides aside).

#7358 - 10/07/00 03:15 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 belMarduk Carpal Tunnel
belMarduk Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891	In Montreal (CDA) we say 'Grow a business' all the time. We use it mostly to mean increasing the business in a particular area (eg. I want to grow the shampoo business in grocery stores). I think it may be because the French say "faire grandir un marche" (oops, do not have French keyboard at moment as I am in an internet cafe in Florida, USA, so you will have to imagine the accent on the e there) Which means to 'make an area of business grow'. I believe that is why the expression is so widely used - and accepted. To be honest, I am not sure if the rest of the country uses grow in the same way. There seems to be some important differences between Quebec English and the rest of Canada English. Well, I have officially crossed the line into being a fanatic. I am on vacation and, just had to come in to view AWAD. We are avoiding the noon-day sun and I thought this was the perfect place. Pretty good excuse no?

#7359 - 10/07/00 03:42 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Aug 2000 Posts: 2,204 RhubarbCommando Pooh-Bah
RhubarbCommando Pooh-Bah Joined: Aug 2000 Posts: 2,204	(oops, do not have French keyboard at moment as I am in an internet cafe in Florida, USA, so you will have to imagine the accent on the e there) Bel, � is achievable, if you are using Word for Windows, by holding down ALT and typing 0233. A whole range of accents is possible using this sort of technique.

#7360 - 10/07/00 04:02 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 tsuwm Carpal Tunnel
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass	>Bel, � is achievable, if you are using Word for Windows actually�, he said with �lan, this works equally well inside our own ineffable AWAD editor, at least with most browsers. here's a link I provided elsewhen for a complete(?) character set: http://www.ramsch.org/martin/uni/fmi-hp/iso8859-1.html

#7361 - 10/07/00 09:19 PM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,981 jmh Pooh-Bah
jmh Pooh-Bah Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,981	Meanwhile ... before we get too obsessed by the pleasures (?!) of the qwerty keyboard, what are the important differences between Quebec English and the rest of Canada English?

#7362 - 10/08/00 12:35 AM Re: "grow" as a transitive verb
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York	We are avoiding the noon-day sun and I thought this was the perfect place. Pretty good excuse no? ..thus proving once and for all you are neither a mad dog nor an Englishman

#7363 - 10/11/00 01:44 PM Re: Qu�bec v.s. Canada English
Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 belMarduk Carpal Tunnel
belMarduk Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891	One very important difference is the adoption of French Canadian words into the English vocabulary, eg: D�PANNEUR (pronounced Day-pan-er) is ONLY used in Qu�bec - not in any other French speaking country - to mean a convenience store; one of those open-all-night "mom 'n pop" stores. All English speaking people in Qu�bec use this term. It is not used, nor understood, anywhere else in Canada. A second example is the word AUTOROUTE (pronounce OH-toe-route) to mean a highway (many-laned, high-speed road). It is pretty self evident when you look at the word - a road (route) for automobiles but is not used elsewhere. CHECK is an example of a word that should be used the same everywhere but isn't. When I am at a restaurant in Quebec and I want to pay for my food I ask for the bill (la facture) not for the check like the rest of Cda (or the USA as I found out this week-end). A check is what you pay your bills with and in Qu�bec is spelled the French way 'cheque' in both English and French. I usually find out I've used a 'Qu�becism' when I say something and I get a blank look from the person I am speaking with.

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