Is There a Noun That Can't be "Verbed?" 6

[hjgoldstein]

I was just looking at an article headline in Flipboard and tapped the screen to open the article. Due to a congenitally fat index finger - diets and exercise help not one iota - I accidentally tapped on the Star to the right of the headline.

I was presented with a pop-up which said:

Log In Required - You must be logged in to Twitter to favorite (sic) this item

Is there any noun in the English language that can't be turned into a verb?

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[JCreamerII]

Tebowed, came into the lexicon last year.

Jim C.

 

[acl03]

Off topic, but the "verbing" of the word "verb" is the only recursive joke that I can think of!

Thanks,
Andrew

Hard work often pays off over time, but procrastination pays off right now!

 

[CajunCenturion]

It's one thing to verb a noun when there is no such verb to describe the action; however, it's another to verb a noun when there already exists a verb for that action. I would suggest that every time you feel the urge to verb a noun, or if you come across a verbing, try to determine if there already exists a verb that would convey the same message with equal efficiency.

For example, had the quote been, "Log In Required - You must be logged into Facebook to friend this person", I would question the verbing of friend because there already exists the verb "to befriend". With respect to the cited example, is there already a verb that means "to make a favorite"?

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[hjgoldstein]

>>is there already a verb that means "to make a favorite"?

Possibly "to favour" - but maybe that is too vague for the desired meaning.

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[guitarzan]

The problem as it relates to the internet and software applications is keeping the language consistent with the application itself. I don't think using "befriend" in the context of a facebook "friend", or "favour" in the context of a "favorite", works nicely. But I also don't like arbitrarily making up verbs from nouns. "Add this person as a Friend" or "Add this item as a Favorite" doesn't require much more screen space, syllables, or made-up verbs either.

But groups of users will always create their own lingo to shorten things. I still cringe when I hear "social security number" shortened to (i dont even know how to spell it...) "sosh" ? (pronunciation of the first syllable of "social")

 

[Olaf Doschke]

In this special case the abbreviationed verb to "fav" a tweet is colloquial, even in germany, where the normal verb would be "favorisieren" or "bevorzugen", which in fact is the same: to favo(u)r.

And it's as wrong to describe what you really do with the tweet. I would choose to say I appreciate a tweet (or video or book or whatever other things you can appreciate via a rating system).

What would describe that action better would be "to add to your favorites", but that's even unwieldier to use. The point is, this doesn't need to be your most favorite thing in the world to "favorite" it.

Of course another term for this is to "star" an item, which is another example of a verdeb noun.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[SamBones]

I think it's an example of taking language shortcuts by and for people that neither understand nor care about proper grammar and word use. Facebook is the AOL of today. There are millions of monkeys sitting at millions of keyboards, and Facebook is nothing like Shakespeare.

Stars for acl03 for the chuckle and CajunCenturion for the insightful post.

 

[SkipVought]

Sounds like a lot of verbage to me.

I was on the verge of verbing, when this reverb conflated from a convergence of converb and coverb.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[mscallisto]

To Skip

Then there's the pro-verb (not to be confused with the proverb)

see:

http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/pro-verb

I particularly like pro-verbs, they save so many keystrokes.

Sam

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Is There a Noun That Can't be "Verbed?"
There are many collective nouns which cannot be verbed and still remain semantically relevant.

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[Annihilannic]

Kind of the reverse, but it mildly irritates me that the word "invite" has been turned into a noun. I regularly hear in online games (and it is frequently hard-coded in their user interfaces) phrases such as "please send me an invite!". I would prefer "invitation".

Annihilannic
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[hjgoldstein]

>>There are many collective nouns which cannot be verbed...

CC, please give examples for our edification (not to mention education).

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[ChrisHirst]

Is there any noun in the English language that can't be turned into a verb?

Do you mean a "real verb" or one that the merry cans haven't made up yet? (not wishing to offendise[sup]sic[/sup] any Americans of course by that.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
Webmaster Forum

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Do you mean a "real verb" or one that the merry cans haven't made up yet?
I think the "merry cans" have a long way to go to catch up to perhaps the most famous verber of all, William Shakespeare. And it was Shakespeare who wrote, "if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending alive" (KING HENRY V) (emphasis mine). Thankfully, not even the great bard himself thought to offendise.

==> CC, please give examples for our edification (not to mention education).
Please keep in mind that it's verbed and still remain semantically relevant.
A collection of apes is known as a "shrewdness". That would be tough to verb (to shrewdness?), and even if you did, it's not likely to remain semantically relevant to apes. If the apes shrewdnessed a new member, would that mean that was one clever ape, or that the group is so clever for doing so? How about a smack of jellyfish? There is nothing wrong with being smacked, but I doubt the jellyfish care for it. How about a tiding of magpies? There are many others that I'm sure we could have some fun with.

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Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato

 

[hjgoldstein]

Let's start this off with a crash of rhinos.

A lying of politicians possibly?

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[SamBones]

A lying of politicians already has a verb form, "to campaign".

 

[kwbMitel]

On yet another tangent, is it possIble that some commonly accepted verbs were once contested?

House : housed
Store : stored (or maybe that verb got nouned)
Horse : horsed (around)

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[tcsbiz]

One that has caused me grief lately is "efforting". I am efforting to think of an example of using "efforting" instead of "trying".

I keep trying to do something about my procrastination but I keep putting it off until tomorrow.

 

[CajunCenturion]

That's an example of exactly what I was referring to, tcsbiz. It's sad when people resort to awkward verbing when the action verb already exists.

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Good Luck
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Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato