to hate how some words have been changed from verbs to nouns

[QueenoftheNights]

I'm thinking of things like 'hacks'.
To hack used to only mean (in slang) to be able to do something. 'Can you hack it?'
Now we have 'life hacks' and all kinds of 'hacks'.

'To learn' has been corrupted into 'learnings'.

I also hate the expression 'go to' when it means something you choose above anything else. Like the 'Packed lunches - your go-tos' now trending here.

Ok hands up, I'm a writer so language matters to me, but more and more I'm made to think 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

My [English] husband wasn't taught grammar at school. Instead, a young teacher, probably fancying herself as "progressive" or sexually alluring to teenagers, sat on a table laughing and joking ... If I were a parent, I'd be fucking furious! Because when such a child grows up, and unless they learn grammar in their own time as my husband did, every fucker who went to a proper school will be given every possible advantage over them, not just in the field of employment but on a "social class" level. For the big fat chip a lot of British people have on their shoulders comes from just that - unequal opportunities.

As to languages "evolving" - yes, relaxed attitude to things is often (in most cases, actually) the best, but in some cases it isn't that but mere laziness. I believe the latter is the case of what OP is about.

I hate gifting. What the hell?! It's just giving right?

I doesn't mean quite the same a giving but I wouldn't use it as a verb outside of a legal context.

I become annoyed at the noun/verb thing too. I, also, object to being referred to as "guys" when I am out with friends. Hack, to me, is riding out. I detest it when people say "I am going horseriding"! It is, going for a hack or riding out. Even worse, horsebackriding!! Where else would you sit for crying out loud.

@OzymandiasFanClub you’ve written exactly what intended to put re “medalling” when I opened the thread! 🏅👎🏻

I'm with the OP and many others, and work in the Public Sector, so I'm afraid I hear these new expressions and words all the time. 'Diarise', 'reach out', 'life hack', 'dig deep', 'customer' (when you're a patient or service user) etc etc.

In my opinion (which is very humble, I hasten to add), those phrases or words do not help the language evolve. Sometimes I feel they are used to 'keep up with the Joneses', inasmuch as it's seen to be modern for being modern's sake. Many, many people who the Public Sector tries to 'reach out to' (communicate with!) simply don't understand any of this jargon. When I worked in the NHS there was a 25 page document called the 'jargon buster' aimed at new employees or peripheral associates to help them understand what the hell was being said at meetings!

I try and speak and write in a way that's going to be understood by the people I'm aiming the message at or sending my reports to. If anyone criticises me for a lack of clarity, I'd change the way I was addressing them, no problem. Flexibility is the key.

I'd never correct grammar or speech on a forum, as I have no idea of people's circumstances, nationalities, regions etc, but if it was a report at work, and I'd been asked to edit / review it, I would.

Written from Pendant Towers.

How many of the people saying they're annoyed by nouns being converted to verbs have ever said "I'll phone you" or (shock horror) "I'll ring you"?

Or “I’ll lock this”.

‘To ring’ is a verb. “I will ring you later” “I rang earlier but you didn’t answer”

Same for phone. “She phoned the police”

Lock. “Did you lock the door?” “No, Karen locked it when she left”

They are all nouns and verbs.

They are nouns that became verbs.

It's like when people get annoyed at "inbox me" but are oblivious to the fact that it's the same as saying "phone me", it's just that the latter has been around longer (probably for most, if not all, of their lifetime) so they accept it as legitimate.

So I can expect to read about perioding on MN. “I perioded last week, so definitely not pregnant”, “I’m due to period next week”

Great. Can’t wait.

Calling in sick with work could be made so much quicker, ‘I won’t be in today, I’m...’

• migraining
• diarrhoeaing
• fluing
• shinglesing

That reminds me of the Billy Connolly sketch where he talks about “flatules”

Unless you are one of the Four Tops no need to reach out to anyone, contact is fine.

You made myself laugh with this, Shanghai

Calling in sick with work could be made so much quicker, ‘I won’t be in today, I’m...’

Vomiting?

There's a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon about this: 'Verbing weirds language'. That said, we've been turning verbs into nouns since language was a thing. (To shoulder, to assassinate, to crow, etc).

I'm also a writer and try to be particular rather than pedantic. Some new verbs are incredibly useful, some are just irritants. There's a difference between language evolving in ways that articulate experiences or ideas more fully, and language being deadened by shit metaphors. I went to a training seminar this week where we were invited to 'check our paradigms', 'get back on the bus', 'throw our starfish into the sea', 'survey the scene from 30,000 feet' and 'decide whether to take the red or blue pill'. Some very confused thinking there.

Does a new word make meaning clearer or does it confuse what we're trying to say? That's the point, I think.

My pet hate is use of the word toilet as a noun, such as "Lexi, have you done your toilet?"

Well that's actually correct, Puttheknifedown - you are just 'hearing' it incorrectly. The word 'toilette' literally means to wash, dress, attend to your appearance.

A lot of disapproval around evolving forms of language is (IMO) snobbishness and/or status anxiety.

My pet hates are just around laziness - I don't mind new or creative use of language and the Americans have been good at that, at least in the past. "I hear ya" is one of my all time faves, though I guess a bit 60s and people don't say that much any more.

So back to Blighty - the dropping of "to" is a little pet hate of mine. We lived in a pretty rubbish part of London so my children picked this one up. e.g. "Can I go toilet?" "Can I go shop". Or, if they wanted something and needed me to go to them, just "Come".

So, its just too much trouble to complete a sentence properly to be understood, is what I'm trying to say. Its just Laziness! Make the Listener Do the Work!

The use of shit metaphors bothers me more. I am married to someone who doesn't speak English as first language and work with people from many countries.

The idiomatic expressions have been identified as a real communication barrier - if you are not a mother tongue English speaker what does "Reach out to him, tell him to take a helicopter view and let us know if we are in the ballpark" mean? (Even typing that was painful)

p.s. gift has been a verb for 100's of years (maybe its a lawyer's thing)

"ShanghaiDiva

I appreciate that language changes, but some of these phrases drive me nuts.
Unless you are one of the Four Tops no need to reach out to anyone, contact is fine."
Or a Depeche mode fan, reaching out to touch faith.

"I didn't do nothing" drives me fucking insane!!!!!!!! Because it means you did do something. Argh, I can feel the rage already just writing that.

The thing that annoys me is ‘mealplan’ as a one word verb. I’ve seen it on here as ‘I mealplan while walking round the supermarket’. That’s just thinking what you want for your tea.