Dr. Mellow - Pet Peeve: Nouns Used As Verbs

Pet Peeve: Nouns Used As Verbs

Jan. 23rd, 2006 at 8:47 PM

One thing that I really hate is when people use nouns as verbs. Nouns are nouns and verbs are verbs. Don't mix them. It's just not right. In my experience, the most common source of this travesty occurs in church groups with the word fellowship. People, we are not going to "come to an event and fellowship." Perhaps we will "come to an event and share in some fellowship" or even "come to an event and experience fellowship," but we are not going to "fellowship" -- you just can't decide that a noun is a verb because you want to.

So, please stop. It hurts my head when you do that.

Mood: cranky

Comments

( 16 comments — Leave a comment )

redbearde wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:01 am (UTC)

oh, but this is one of the fun parts of English...

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:18 pm (UTC)

Perhaps, but it's not fun for me. Especially when it happens in church, when I really shouldn't be worried about being a grammar police.

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slitterst wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:06 am (UTC)

That's like the christian events that I would go to and the first thing we would do is create a covenant. Which is fine, until you start with the sentence "We covenant to..."

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:14 am (UTC)

Yes, that's even more painful than "fellowship," but I don't tend to hear that as often. I've got "fellowship" on the mind because it must have been incorrectly used about a bazillion times during tonight's Men's Group meeting.

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stevenredux wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:23 am (UTC)

As Calvin (of "and Hobbes" fame) says "Verbing weirds language."

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:29 am (UTC)

Exactly. I almost went there in my post, but figured that more than one of you would make fun of me if I said "You can't just verb a noun."

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meep wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 10:52 am (UTC)

Just as it's a warning sign to me when a Catholic Church doesn't describe itself as a Catholic Church on its signs, but "A Faith Community".

I'll pass, thanks.

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 25th, 2006 12:01 am (UTC)

That sounds so.... Protestant. ;-)

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meep wrote:

Jan. 25th, 2006 09:41 am (UTC)

Well, I guess. I wouldn't really know. It's just the aversion to calling a church what it is makes me wonder if they know what they're there for. In the Catholic Church, Mass is the pinnacle of worship (which, of course, takes place in a church). It's nice to have all sorts of other ministries, but they're supposed to be adjuncts to the core mission. When I see "A Faith Community", it gives me the sign that the focus on the Mass has been diffused.

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theevilhalf wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 01:50 pm (UTC)

I guess next they'll 'orientate' themselves to Christ.

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 02:17 pm (UTC)

Good grief, I sure hope not!

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goblin_god wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 03:22 pm (UTC)

Not to add fuel to the fire, but there is such a thing as a gerund. Though, gerunds invariably end in ING, so maybe you need to start calling it fellowing or fellowshing or fellowshipping, heh.

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drmellow wrote:

Jan. 24th, 2006 09:27 pm (UTC)

I've got no beef with gerunds, as they are propper grammar. It's the impropper grammar that gets my goat.

I want my goat back.

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