every word can be a verb ?

A J   Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:39 pm GMT
instead of "I said hello", if I write "I helloed", is it ok?
instead of "Dad ordered me like a CEO!", if I write "Dad, CEOed me!", is it ok?

I witness lots of words, which was originally non-verb, are used as verbs.
is it natural, or is it just for fun?
is it promoted as a economic way to speak?

How should I understand this as a non-native?
Where would you say is the crossline?
Uriel   Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:00 pm GMT
Good question -- some, if not most, nouns can be changed into verbs very easily. But hello is not a noun, and you can't make the word "helloed" out of it -- besides, we already have the word "greeted".

"Dad CEO'd me" probably wouldn't be understood by anyone, since it's not a common phrase, but it would fit the pattern more.

No, it's not just for fun; the English language is structured in such a way that making verbs out of nouns is a natural tendency.
Uriel   Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:01 pm GMT
I should add that adjectives can also often be made into verbs, too.
runCDfirst   Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:47 pm GMT
i'm not a native-speaker but these are some nouns I use as verbs:

he's TOEFLing today = he has the TOEFL exam today.

if you want it... just GOOGLE it !! = look for it in google.com



thanx
Rick Johnson   Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:24 pm GMT
The forming of verbs from nouns is one of America's greatest contributions to the modern English language. The changes in English, with regard to this, have been steady over the past 200 years, with only the very newest additions such as "to party" standing out as obvious "Americanisms"!
Stan   Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:56 pm GMT
In Latin, a GERUND is a noun derived from a verb and having all case forms except the nominative.

In other languages, it is a verbal noun analogous to the Latin gerund, such as the English form ending in -ing when used as a noun. A lot of English nouns can be used as verbs but more than often, it is considered as "non-formal" usage.
Brennus   Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:57 am GMT
Theoretically almost any word could be a verb in Modern English. However not all such words have been popular or totlly accepted. For example, I haven't heard anyone use the expression "I'm all COFFEED out " for "I've had too much coffee" for about 25 years now.

Today, some people are using 'to BLOWTORCH' as a colorful way of saying 'to burn' or 'to incinerate' e.g. (It is doubtful that an Earth-like planet orbits Proxima Centauri. Since it is a flare star, any planet in its habitable zone would probably get BLOWTORCHED.) However most dictionaries still list 'blowtorch' as just a noun.

More successful words of this type have been 'to BADMOUTH' (someone), 'to SKYROCKET' (Energy prices are expected to skyrocket this winter) , 'to BROWN BAG (a lunch) , to NICKLE AND DIME (it), 'To TWO-DOLLAR someone to death (with late fees)', 'to SKATEBOARD' and 'to ROLLER-BLADE'.

The British like to use the expression "The rain is BUCKETING down" to describe heavy rainfall but it sounds quaint to Americans who prefer other expressions like "It's pouring like mad!", "It's raining cats and dogs!" and "It's raining orange antenna balls out there."
Uriel   Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:11 am GMT
"It's raining orange antenna balls"? Haven't heard that one.

I always liked "frogstrangler" for a really bad downpour!
JJM   Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:39 am GMT
Though every word could "theoretically" be a verb in English, it is a fact that every word can be a noun.
Brennus   Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:40 am GMT
"Gullywasher" is word used in the South as a metaphor for "Heavy rainfall" though now I hear it used sometimes in Seattle too (We actually do have a small Cajun community here). "Frogstrangler, if not Southern, at least sounds country.
Geoff_One   Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:49 am GMT
The word stretcher.

News organizations have found that it is quicker to say:

He was stretchered into an ambulance.

Rather than:

He was placed onto a stretcher and moved into an ambulance.
Brennus   Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:42 pm GMT
Geoff_One,

I believe you. I saw a lot of hits on the internet using it that way. Still, some people would say that it's just more abuse of the English language and I agree with them in this case. If the traffic rules of English allowed for something like that it would be a different story, but they don't. On the other hand, someone inventing a constructed language for international usage or experimental purposes might want to consider giving it grammar that would enable you to do that.
JJM   Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:53 am GMT
"Still, some people would say that it's just more abuse of the English language and I agree with them in this case. If the traffic rules of English allowed for something like that it would be a different story, but they don't."

But English does allow it, as Geoff_One's example shows.

Whether we like this usage or not is neither here no there.
Brennus   Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:24 am GMT
Re: But English does allow it, as Geoff_One's example shows. --- JJM

Probably more in the abstract than in reality. A traditionalist still would not like it. Women, especially tend to stick to more traditional forms in any language than men do. (For this reason, some linguists even recommend trying to learn a foreign language from female speakers first rather than male speakers, though I wouldn't go that far).

Below is a blogg I found written by someone who feels uncomfortable with using nouns as verbs and I'm sure that millions of English speakers share the same, or nearly the same, sentiments that this person does. If enough people do, then something like "stretchered into an ambulance" will eventually become history. It's been said that popular preference ultimately always determines which words will be used in a language.

http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2005/09/making-nouns-into-verbs.html
JJM   Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:47 pm GMT
"It's been said that popular preference ultimately always determines which words will be used in a language."

Very true.

It's pretty pointless to grumble about nouns being used as verbs.

English just seems to be one of those languages that has a natural affinity for it. I think this is in great part due to the minimal inflection system of our verbs. It's easy to turn a word into a verb in English since only three possible suffixes are involved: "-s"/"-ing"/"-ed."

In the end it would seem to boil down to a word's public appeal and the way it sounds. "Impact" has made the transition from noun to verb quite successfully; "to stretcher" doesn't strike me as an expression with enough overall "punch" to make much popular headway.

But you never know.