BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Deda
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 05:16 PM

Amos and I have been sibling all our lives. Well, all of mine, anyway.

Kinko's has a dreadful commercial which touts itself as "the new way to office." Blech.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: MartinRyan
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 05:36 PM

All this talk of nouns reminds me: The Irish Times , which is the nearest we have to a decent newspaper, recently had an article on a gentleman whom they described as " the renouned author"!

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 09:11 PM

Ah, but clueless don, you are indeed allowed to rephrase the statement! Just as one does as needed in a song or poem or an essay... Besides which, 'The letter 'a' occurs five times in the word' is a better sentence.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 10:08 PM

I think the use of an apostrophe before the pluralizing "s" is acceptable usage where the resultant typogroaphy would otherwise be obscure or ambiguous (as in the example of the five A's).   The problem arises when those who do not care to assimilate the subtleties of the English rule set choose to abuse it instead, creating bastard plurals like monkey's. :>)

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 10:25 PM

Oh, and Deda thanks for all the good sibling. You give good sib!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Michael
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 05:38 PM

As in 'To verb a noun'

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 09:25 PM

"Go verb thyself, and the gerund you rode in on," she replied nounfully...

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Mar 03 - 12:13 PM

Ebbie said: Ah, but clueless don, you are indeed allowed to rephrase the statement! Just as one does as needed in a song or poem or an essay... Besides which, 'The letter 'a' occurs five times in the
word' is a better sentence.

As (not A's) a court reporter, I write down and later transcribe the language of live speakers, and they choose the sentence structure; my function is only to present their speech in the most readable form I can. And if refers to sets of plural A's, that's the appropriate way to do it. I don't have the luxury of recasting the sentence.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Mar 03 - 12:14 PM

"if the speaker refers"

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: David Ingerson
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 01:02 PM

I don't have time to read more than the first few posts right now so excuse me if this has already been mentioned. In the mountaineering community the use of "summit" as a verb is practically universal and it's my impression that it has been used that way for a long time. I resist the unnecessary verbifaction of nouns, but this one seemed apt and certainly more economical than saying "reached the summit". Besides, it distinguishes those who can claim to have "climbed the mountain" when they reached only the false summit or were not able to scale the final pinnicle from those who actually summited.

On the other hand, The American Heritage Dictionary, I was surprised to find, listed summit only as a noun.

Slán,

David

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,joe
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 03:53 PM

hmm. whom to summi; or su'mit to.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:06 PM

Well, since we are now in the age where Newspeak and Newhistory rule, let us propose that the verb "to summit" has an honorable etymology from an ancient Latin verb,summere, originally meaning to successfully wrestle something or someone to defeat.

The first person singular of which, oddly enough, was always spelled sumo.

Summamos, amigos!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:08 PM

Bush, Blair, most recently summited with the Spanish and Portuguese in the Azores. This use appeared in the 1970s.
Dictionaries often miss usages by groups such as mountaineers, like summit (verb) in mountain-climbing. The Oxford English Dictionary doesn't have it either, but, along with the Webster's Collegiate, it does have the one about leaders summiting. The latter also has "summiteering."

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 05:57 PM

If I were told I was to learn "circus skills" and it turned out just to mean juggling, I'd feel I'd been cheated. I'd expect it to cover tightrope-walking and fire-eating and if possible lion-tamimg. (Though these days that's probably banned.)

But "tasks" as a verb is hardly a new word - "He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it." (Moby Dick, Chapter 36.) I wouldn't scruple to use it.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,NightWing at Work
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:06 PM

Surprised no one's hit this one yet.

Don't we all mudcat a lot?

BB,

NightWing

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:43 PM

I can show you how the verb "to mudcat" has a root which was, originally, Grick! Pass the Windex!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:06 PM

To task someone (put someone to a job) is 16th century or older (OED).
To task (to tax) is even older. Use of a word as both noun and verb seems to be a function of the English language, and part of reason that it is the most compehensive language on earth.
Sometimes the meaning changes. We eat beef or skin a beef, but we beef about things or we beef up our forces.

Was looking up the words to an old song today- "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground."

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:34 PM

We're tenting tonight, on the old camp ground
Give us a song to cheer
Our weary hearts, a song of home
And those we love so dear....

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 06:07 AM

I'm glad Dave Ingerson put the mountaineering perspective. Last time I visited Snowdon I failed to summit it, I nearly reached the summit, but I had already utilised my reserves of stamina. Clearly I peaked too soon.

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 08:13 AM

What? You peaked instead of summiting? I say, old top -- no peaking!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 09:09 AM

I haven't summitted recently, but I did bottom while driving over a sleeping policeman yesterday.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: JennyO
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 10:29 AM

My friend, Sandra in Sydney, often asks me if I am mudcatting tonight, and of course I usually say yes.

Yesterday, an anti-war protester managed to "summit" one of the sails of the Opera House and paint a bright red "no war" on it. Today, on the news, they showed a bunch of guys up there trying to wash it off - not very successfully. The reporter was heard to say that the protester "graffitied" the Opera House.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 05:47 PM

Or possibly:

We're camping tonight, on the old tent ground...

The best new words always seem to turn out to be old words after all.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 08:36 PM

How camp of you, Kevin!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 08:57 PM

I guess Nigel destaminated. Or mountained out.
Saw the pictures of the Opera House- the protester did a nice neat job! Undoubtedly readable on spy satellite photos.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Apr 03 - 11:08 AM

In last Sunday's paper, a Microsoft exec. talking about their move away from their use of "dot Net" as a product identifier (my emphasis):

"We have moved away from using .Net as a versioning moniker to indicate that a particular product is a .Net product, ...."

Did he make that up?

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 23 Apr 03 - 11:34 AM

No -- "versioning" is a common parlance in software circles where it is very important to keep track of which version of many files are compiled into which version of a build. It's a whole professional subculture. It's shorthand for "tracking the versions of files". But the way he is using it in the quote above is quite impenetrable.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 23 Apr 03 - 12:17 PM

Versioning- listing all the different versions of a folk song.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Apr 03 - 04:30 PM

To the tune of "Happy Wanderer"

I love to go a'versioning
To every pub I know,
And as I go, I love to sing,
Each version as it flows.

Cho: Val da ree, Val da rah
Val da ree, Val da rah ha ha ha ha ha
Val da ree, Val da rah
Each version as it flows.

etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 24 Apr 03 - 02:18 PM

This quote:

"Call me a pedant but medically what you describe is vasectomy because it is the vas deferens that is cut. Vas is a vessel (as in tube) and can be described as a duct"

really made a vas deferens in my life. Thank you!

Also -- why isn't anyone posting the Bushisms, like "don't misunderestimate me..."

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Amos
Date: 24 Apr 03 - 02:21 PM

That's a form of de-duction, isn't it?

There are several threads of Bushwah-isms on the backtrack, PDC -- just put Bush into the display filter and set it for a year and you'll see 'em.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 24 Apr 03 - 03:35 PM

I'm sorry -- ban me if you want to, but I HAVE to do this here, as this thread is about language.

Tony Blair is visiting an Edinburgh hospital. He enters a ward full of patients with no obvious sign of injury or illness and greets one.

The patient replies: "Fair fa your honest sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin race, Aboon them a you take your place, Painch, tripe or thairm, As langs my airm."

Blair is confused, so he just grins and moves on to the next patient.

The patient responds: "Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, So let the Lord be thankit."

Even more confused, and his grin now rictus-like, the PM moves on to the next patient, who immediately begins to chant: "Wee sleekit, cowerin, timrous beasty, Thou needna start awa sae hastie, Wi bickering brattle."

Now seriously troubled, Blair turns to the accompanying doctor and asks "What kind of facility is this? A mental ward?"

"No", replies the doctor. "This is the serious Burns unit."

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Apr 03 - 03:48 PM

Oh, pdc!!! That's BRILL! My dad will love it!

You'd probably like these old threads:

Colloquialims - Post 'Em & Define 'em!,

Colloquialisms II,

and, Colloquialisms III

Subject: RE: BS: Nouns as Verbs: 'to summit Everest'
From: Gurney
Date: 25 Apr 03 - 05:17 AM

The man who first (or second, they won't say) summitted Everest could turn a phrase.
"Well, we knocked the bastard off!"
What Tensing said is not recorded.
At risk of thread creep, is it only in NZ here that they have started to pronounce an E between a W and N? Growen, sowen, clowen, and even lowen for lone.