Comments on: The Give That Keeps On Gifting: The Protean Nature of English Words, and Why That’s A Good Thing

By: Robusto

Robusto — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:43:32 +0000

Thanks. You are obviously a person of taste and refinement. ¬_¬

By: J. C. Salomon

J. C. Salomon — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:37:19 +0000

Why, those are straight-forward applications of verbification of nouns, commonly known (by application of the process to its root) as “verbing nouns”.

But as Calvin pointed out, “verbing weirds language.”

By: Thomas Horton

Thomas Horton — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:39:22 +0000

I'm much more concerned about the verbs "to noun," "to adjective," and "to adverb."

:-) Excellent article!

By: Barrie England

Barrie England — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:53:03 +0000

Those who wince on hearing gift used as a verb are probably labouring under the recency illusion. The OED’s earliest citation for the use of the verb gift meaning ‘To bestow as a gift; to make a present of’ is dated 1619.

By: kitfox

kitfox — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:05:29 +0000

+100. I wish I could upvote blog posts. Well said.

By: StoneyB

StoneyB — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:28:21 +0000

And even as this is posted there is on the front page of ELU a question about a comparative adjective repurposed as a positive adverb employed as a preposition in the superlative grade. Love this language