Have we gotten to the point that we can add ed to any noun?
Have we gotten to the point that we can add ed to almost any noun to turn it into a verb? The verbs ‘googled’ and ‘texted’ have become common placed. Some words will lose their meaning i.e. ‘hat—hated’ but I talking about the new words created by adding ‘ed’.
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No, thank goodness. I hearted the distinction between nouns and verbs for a long time.
Whated seemed toed beed theed biged dealed
The language is being butchered worse, that’s the least of the worries. And besides, who says we can’t make new words? New words had to be made to make our vocabulary so extensive.
You kind of have to add these words when you add new things into society as well.
I fluthered the other day. That sure cheesed my wife.
What’s worse is hearing people verbally say “LOL” and other “text speak”.
I facebooked my best friend.
I googled it.
I texted my mom.
Those are the only ones I can stand. I don’t get how you can say “I heart ____”. I mean, typing “I ♥ u” is one thing. But verbally saying it? Ugg.
@erichw1504 yeah, that too. I have even stopped saying whole words“Oh my God”.
It’s not adding ”-ed” per se, it’s just converting a noun into a verb, which includes ”-ing”, ”-s”, and other verb endings. It happens all the time. Language changes. New words are created, old words are done away with, definitions are added, definitions are taken away; it’s been happening in English for hundreds of years and it will continue to happen.
I don’t think new words are a bad thing, and so long as they are grammatically correct, I invite them. Neo-verbs, such as to facebook, to google, etc. were never used this way because the technology was recently invented. As for to text, I think that that is more of an abbreviated version of text messaged. Wouldn’t you agree that it would be acceptable to say that you messaged someone?
Times are changing, and languages have been changing forever. This is notably prevalent in English, due to the ease and capacity for new words to be created.
@jfos That’s interesting. So texted is to text messaged as blog is to web log.
I hate the way we have verbed so many nouns. But on the other hand, the nouning of verbs (in the form of gerunds) is a time-honored and totally unremarkable practice. And really, if you look at how many of the nouns that this already applies to, this is how our language has always been built.
Love (as an emotion) – love as an action
Hand (as a part of the anatomy) – hand as an action
List (as a collection of items) – list as an action
View (as a thing to see) – view as an action
(you can make the rest of the list on your own; it’s a long one)
I guess there are some words that don’t work that way:
Speech, for example, is “speak” as a verb; “speeched” wouldn’t work so well, would it?
@CyanoticWasp I’m just curious to know… are you aware that you “verbed” verb and noun?
@jfos I had some difficulty (“I difficultied?” See, the rule doesn’t apply to all nouns… yet.) in working out the words that I wanted, but in the end I worded the statement (“I statemented?” No, never.) in a way that suited my purpose. I purposed (oh, there’s a particularly odious one) the words the way I wanted.
Mr.Ed? Of course of course.
A simpler way is to simply-wise add wise to anything, vocabulary-wise. Or just wing it and use to journal, to suicide, to orgasm, to whatever, neologism-wise.
My pet peeve is “incentivized.” I hated it and I hate it!
Curb, date, elbow, head, interview, panic, park, service, feature, chair, loan, office and contact were all nouns that were later verbed.
“Verbed.” Oy. That is really an exsult to the language.
Any noun? Including itself. Well, only the urban dictionary is talking about nouning a verb or verbs being nouned.
At least Google ask you: Did you mean: “a noun verb”?
No, sir.
@janbb: That is an Uberbatman answer, but why aren’t you stoking the fire and stirring the cookie dough?
It seems to me that we’ll do this with more nouns than not, and that’s part of how our language evolves with use and new requirements; it’s perfectly natural. It’s also probably silly-appearing to those who consciously witness it happening and wonder “what the hell is happening to my language?” And then in a few years it’s totally unremarkable and… normal.
Someone probably thought that the change from the noun “time” to the infinitive “to time” was ridiculous at one time, or “point” becoming “to point” or “hazard” becoming “to hazard” to name a few others… out of literally thousands that can be named. “To noun a verb” or “to verb a noun” both sound ridiculous now (and put that way, for emphasis, they sort of are), but it’s what happens with English day in and day out. I don’t get upset about it, but I do like to ridicule the worst examples.
Frankly, I’ve always been amazed that “It depends what the definition of ‘is’ is” never got the play and ridicule it so richly deserved.
I think there are some holdouts. Shall we undercut them here?
I carred to the mall, where I ATMed some 20’s. I escalatored up to the second floor, and Macyed a present for my GF. We pizzaed at the food court while conversating about how the language has been dumpstered.
Kind of like it.
@janbb – It’s wonderful to get libraried comments laden with sharp and teacherful wit.
In The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker estimates that a fifth of all English verbs were once nouns.
According to Geoffrey Nunberg, usage writers in the 60s called the verb “contact” an “abomination” and a “lubricious barbarism”.
Sounds like William Safire’s words to me.
What on earth can a “lubricious barbarism” mean? Something similar to a “salacious car battery”?A “randy shampoo bottle”? A “turned-on neologism”?
Have I been outwitted here or witted out?
You guys better be nice or I’m not going to friend you.
@gailcalled Perhaps “lubricious” with the meaning “shifty; unstable; elusive”.
Let’s sing the “Star-Englished Banner” to freedom of speeching.
I lurve lubricious barbarism.
I lurved lubricious barbarism.
I have lurved lubricious barbarism.
I had lurved lubricious barbarism.
I haded lurved lubricious barbarism.
The more I think about it, the more I like this verbing thing. It makes the language more concise concises the language and makes it more precise precises it. Take for example the verb “to friend.” What would you have to say without it, “I made the selection on Facebook that she was to be placed in the category of friend in relation to me” versus ” I friended her.”
Aren’t precision and conciseness among the most important criteria for new words?
@6rant6 amen. Thanks. I should PM that to you as well. (Is it a bad thing that we can also verb an acronym?)
@rGrant6; “I befriended her”?
@gailcalled Well, “befriended” is nice, but it doesn’t mean the same thing as “Friend” does. “Friending” is not something done outside of Facebook, I believe. So I rate it “10” for precise, “10” for brevity, and “7” for ease of understanding.
@6rant6 I have OK’d your last response.
@6rant6 conciseness might be part of it, but imo the main reason we use a new word is because it’s useful.
Here’s a new one from another fluther question. “Wheelchaired” is easily understood, but is it necessary? May I start using “walkered,” “crutched,” barbelled” with impunity, or should I say, “bombasted.”
And haven’t some of them walked or even wheelchaired?
@gailcalled okay, I give. It’s not as if we’re going to verb every noun. But we do it so often that by now it should be fairly unremarkable—even if we can laugh at some of the new uses (which we’ll be using ourselves in a year or so, and without a thought about our earlier reaction). I ‘friend’ people all the time, unremarkably.
I also “phone” and “Google” all day and all night (I used to “fax” a lot more than I do now)—and I have “chaired” many meetings, too. Pretty unremarkable activities, aren’t they?
@CyanoticWasp : However, in some cases, there is confusion. I just got back from the local humane society where my cat was nailed (manicured). He sicked in his carrier when I homed.
@gailcalled Liking “homed” especially in the era of GPS with voice.
“Sicked” is nice because it’s less precise than other alternatives.
“Manicured” is already available, so “nailed” isn’t necessary. But how about “Peticure”
@all I’m getting worded out!
@gailcalled I can totally grok the “sicked in his carrier when I homed” sentence. That should actually go down as great literature.
@janbb… Word.
@6rant6: Peticure is cute, but Milo got only his front paws snipped, clipped or chipped.
@janbb: Just be more thesaurused.
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