Starting a sentence (or, worse, a paragraph) with the word "So" is a practice I could certainly do without.
"So let it be written . . . so let it be done!"
As for using nouns as verbs . . . there's a commercial for a certain over-the-counter concoction that's supposed to improve one's memory that begins: "Do you want to brain better?"
I cringe whenever I hear that one. Especially because as kids we used "brain" as a verb to mean "knock over the head." "Stop showing those stupid commercials or I'm going to brain you!"
Heh, I like 'a big ask'. It's colloquial and originally Australian, and it's abundantly clear what it means. I prefer it to 'a tall order,' which just has me visualising a very tall glass of some alcoholic beverage!
Yes, that is the argument people were giving. Except that gift has been used as a verb since the 1600s, and plenty of words double up as both a noun and verb, even when they have another verb version. The English language has an abundance of such occurrences, but people are quite choosy with which they decide are acceptable, and the criteria for unacceptable tends to be 'I haven't heard this before in my lifetime.'
I’m afraid you’d be driven to distraction, or perhaps heavy drinking, in the American South. “Where’s is at?” and similar constructions are very common in these parts.
As for me, I don’t care how accepted it is, I just can’t use “impact” as a verb.
Among the more vile atrocities is 'ask' used as a noun, as in "That was a big ask!". Just today a headline in the Washington Post was as bad: "Trump’s rage at a Fox News anchor contains a key tell."
While I'm ranting, what is, or ever has been, wrong with 'normality'? 'Normalcy' is ugly and unnecessary.
Edit: Too grumpy to have noticed I was beaten to 'ask' back a few posts..
Well, I've given up complaining about "gifting" as it was plainly a lost cause. But it's filed for future complaint if necessary.
It is interesting how quickly usages spread. Possibly among people who had not previously used the original. Such as the non-British pronounciation of botanical word ending in "wort" as if they were "warts", instead of part of the family of words such as "worth", "world", "work", "worse", "worst", and "word" itself.
I don't quite understand how "reach out" suddenly expanded in semantic scope to encompass merely "contacting".
I loathe "mouth watering" because it makes me feel sick, and "lip smacking" tells me I'm not going to want to be anywhere near you when you eat it. Or eat anything, probably.
An Australian academic has just added problematised to the lexicon, in referring to our country's current difficult diplomatic relationship with China.
Yes, "where's it to?" would be correct here. One of our typical sayings is "Stay where yer to till I comes where yer at," although in the Present Situation many have amended it to, "Stay where yer to and I won't come where yer at."
On the topic of verbifying nouns, I try to have an open-minded and descriptive view of our fluid language, but there are some that grate on me. A major cosmetics chain opened a store in our mall and the sign in the window said, "Let's Beauty Together!"
I love that one of the chapters of Catherine Fox's new Lindchester novel that she's blogging week by week (taking her characters through 2020 and its real-time events) begins: "We live in precedented times."
I love that one of the chapters of Catherine Fox's new Lindchester novel that she's blogging week by week (taking her characters through 2020 and its real-time events) begins: "We live in precedented times."
I have that one, but before reading it I decided I should re-read the earlier ones to remind me of the characters, etc.
Now "regifting" fills a niche that did not have a word before - Tolkien referred to it in his description of mathoms, the things which were regifted, but did not, I think, have a verb for it. Regiving wouldn't quite have the same ring to it.
"your onboarding journey" - sent in an email welcoming me after I registered as a user of a certain newspaper's website. I am looking for ways to undo my registration.
I think the English language does lack in nuance on this front. French has a useful distinction which English doesn’t contain.
Compare:
Ma mère m’a donné cette robe
And
Ma mère m’a offert cette robe
They both translate as ‘my mother gave me this dress’. The distinction is that in the first case, she handed on an old dress of hers that she didn’t want anymore, and the second is a new dress that she bought or made as a gift.
"your onboarding journey" - sent in an email welcoming me after I registered as a user of a certain newspaper's website. I am looking for ways to undo my registration.
Surely you wish to "disboard" or perhaps "untravel"? Or, as the Glasgow tramcar conductors were wont to say: "Cummoangetaff!"
But English can say, "she gave me a new dress". What's the problem?
Or "She handed me down an old dress."
I don't know French, but the "problem" (if it is that) would seem to be that French does not need the qualifying adjective "old" or "new". The nature of the gift is inferred from the verb.
But English can say, "she gave me a new dress". What's the problem?
This isn't the nuance exactly. If I'm wearing it and someone asks me where I got it from I can answer in either way. English does have "it was a gift from my mother" or "it was a hand-me-down from my mother" but that's not how people talk usually.
Well, my experience is that people would typically say “My mother gave it to me for my birthday/Christmas/whatever,” “my mother got it for me” or “it was my mother’s.”
This isn't the nuance exactly. If I'm wearing it and someone asks me where I got it from I can answer in either way. English does have "it was a gift from my mother" or "it was a hand-me-down from my mother" but that's not how people talk usually.
Which do you use if your mother bought it, never wore it, and decided it would suit you better than her? Perhaps it depends on whether or not your mother snipped off the tags?
Ones I don't like,
- 'in excess of' - No. it's 'over' or 'more than'.
- the use of 'gift' as a verb.
- the construction from that of 'giftings' to mean talents, particularly popular in church circles.
- the usage of 'intentional' in phrases like an 'intentional meeting' or an 'intentional community'.
- 'meaningful'. It should be an unnecessary word. It should only be the absence of meaning that one needs to notice or comment on. Also, it's appearance is usually a sign of its absence.
I'm relieved to say I've never heard 'uptick' or 'unsuccessful'.
I've been making bronze sculptures for a long time. My sculptures are wholly unsuccessful and uncommercial. No one is even the remotest bit interested in them. So it's almost like my hobby.
bunches of (politicians, whales, dogs, ideas, cars etc etc) Why has the proper collective disappeared and has been replaced by a word that used to be reserved for groups of flowers, carrots etc?
Or worse still, simply "passed." Passed what? An exam? Another motorist?
I've decided to reconcile myself to that euphemism by imagining that all of life was a long and difficult exam, and the person being discussed has finally passed. Good for them.
Or worse still, simply "passed." Passed what? An exam? Another motorist?
I've decided to reconcile myself to that euphemism by imagining that all of life was a long and difficult exam, and the person being discussed has finally passed. Good for them.
Comments
As for using nouns as verbs . . . there's a commercial for a certain over-the-counter concoction that's supposed to improve one's memory that begins: "Do you want to brain better?"
I cringe whenever I hear that one. Especially because as kids we used "brain" as a verb to mean "knock over the head." "Stop showing those stupid commercials or I'm going to brain you!"
Dialect where I live is 'Where's it to?'
… well that’s what they tell you when you react!
As for me, I don’t care how accepted it is, I just can’t use “impact” as a verb.
While I'm ranting, what is, or ever has been, wrong with 'normality'? 'Normalcy' is ugly and unnecessary.
Edit: Too grumpy to have noticed I was beaten to 'ask' back a few posts..
And it's derived adjective impactful.
In Australian politics, it seems we first brought the word incentivisation to prominence.
Interesting - I had no idea!
It is interesting how quickly usages spread. Possibly among people who had not previously used the original. Such as the non-British pronounciation of botanical word ending in "wort" as if they were "warts", instead of part of the family of words such as "worth", "world", "work", "worse", "worst", and "word" itself.
I loathe "mouth watering" because it makes me feel sick, and "lip smacking" tells me I'm not going to want to be anywhere near you when you eat it. Or eat anything, probably.
Yes, "where's it to?" would be correct here. One of our typical sayings is "Stay where yer to till I comes where yer at," although in the Present Situation many have amended it to, "Stay where yer to and I won't come where yer at."
On the topic of verbifying nouns, I try to have an open-minded and descriptive view of our fluid language, but there are some that grate on me. A major cosmetics chain opened a store in our mall and the sign in the window said, "Let's Beauty Together!"
No, please, let's not.
I have that one, but before reading it I decided I should re-read the earlier ones to remind me of the characters, etc.
Compare:
And
They both translate as ‘my mother gave me this dress’. The distinction is that in the first case, she handed on an old dress of hers that she didn’t want anymore, and the second is a new dress that she bought or made as a gift.
Or "She handed me down an old dress."
I don't know French, but the "problem" (if it is that) would seem to be that French does not need the qualifying adjective "old" or "new". The nature of the gift is inferred from the verb.
This isn't the nuance exactly. If I'm wearing it and someone asks me where I got it from I can answer in either way. English does have "it was a gift from my mother" or "it was a hand-me-down from my mother" but that's not how people talk usually.
Which do you use if your mother bought it, never wore it, and decided it would suit you better than her? Perhaps it depends on whether or not your mother snipped off the tags?
- 'in excess of' - No. it's 'over' or 'more than'.
- the use of 'gift' as a verb.
- the construction from that of 'giftings' to mean talents, particularly popular in church circles.
- the usage of 'intentional' in phrases like an 'intentional meeting' or an 'intentional community'.
- 'meaningful'. It should be an unnecessary word. It should only be the absence of meaning that one needs to notice or comment on. Also, it's appearance is usually a sign of its absence.
I'm relieved to say I've never heard 'uptick' or 'unsuccessful'.
Really?
A little googling offers
(OK, that one's probably in translation, but still...)
Or worse still, simply "passed." Passed what? An exam? Another motorist?
Take a noun, use it as a verb, add -ing to make it a noun again. Full circle.
I've decided to reconcile myself to that euphemism by imagining that all of life was a long and difficult exam, and the person being discussed has finally passed. Good for them.
When I conduct funerals I make a point of using the word "died" at least once.
Example - a whole raft of new laws...