Nouning Verbs
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Nouning Verbs
Here is a sadly too short piece titled "When Nouns Verb Oddly." Sadly, the author no longer writes this section, I generally found her work a pleasure.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Nouning Verbs
"Own" is becoming very frequent in the sense of demonstrating superiority over someone or something. Possibly the usage arises from the sense that if you own something, you can do what you want with it.
His football team owned the conference that year.
Building tremendous influence and approval, the mayor owned that town.
His football team owned the conference that year.
Building tremendous influence and approval, the mayor owned that town.
pl
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 8491
- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Re: Nouning Verbs
This has been around for quite a while, but it isn't used as a noun. I don't believe you can have "an own" over something or someone.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
Re: Nouning Verbs
On the other hand, Rex Stout's famous detective abhored the idea of using "contact" as a verb. Now a lost cause, and probably because there are so many ways to contact a person that the word is handy if you want to get in touch with them by whatever means. You can go see them, phone them, email them, text them, message them on FB, and if all else fails, send snail mail!
pl
Re: Nouning Verbs
Slava, although I agree with you that "own" is not commonly used as a noun, remember what Virgina Wolf said, "A room of one's own."
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