Posted on 12/11/2021 7:38:03 AM PST by DoodleBob
There’s an ad out right now for Google’s Chromebook laptop with a slogan that says, “Switch to a new way to laptop.” While I’m hesitant to disparage any of our digital overlords for fear of being stricken from search results, I feel obligated to take a stand. You can’t “laptop” something; “laptop” isn’t a verb.
While I try my hardest to keep things positive here at Grammar Guy H.Q., certain things grate my grammar gears. While I’ve touched on the “verbification” of nouns before, I haven’t explored how marketers and company names have verbified nouns ad nauseam.
I know I’ve seen other versions of brazen verbification in the oversaturated commercial environment in which we live, but the Google example really made me want to laptop someone in the face.
Of course, it’s every modern company’s goal to become a verb themselves. While Bing (Microsoft’s search engine) tried hard to make “Bing” a verb, people still “Google” queries into search engines (usually Google). This made me wonder—what other company names have become verbs due to their overwhelming popularity?
When you owe a friend money these days, you don’t write them a check. You probably don’t even have cash. Instead you “Venmo” or “PayPal” them the money from your bank account into theirs.
This brings up another confusing point: do you keep the verbified company name capitalized? According to AP and Chicago stylebooks the answer is “yes,” although you’ll find the word “Google” as a verb lowercase (“google”) in many online dictionaries. The capitalization situation is in flux; stand by as this phenomenon evolves.
The official word nerd term for converting a noun into a verb is “denominalization.” While I don’t mind this word, I prefer “verbification” or even “verbing.” I like the irony of taking the noun “verb” and verbing it.
Have you talked to someone using a video feature on your smartphone? Chances are you either Skyped or FaceTimed with them. For some reason “video chat” or “video call” doesn’t suffice. Lately, we’ve Zoomed many of our meetings, Ubered our way home from a night out with friends and Instagrammed photos of our dogs. This is what modern companies dream of: make your product so ubiquitous that people use its name in place of a more descriptive-yet-common verb.
Until these company names become genericized (think chapstick, kleenex and thermos), I suggest capitalizing these verbified, trademarked words. If you disagree with me, feel free to conduct your own search engine research on a leading internet website.
For the most part, I’m not worried about it. I consider such invented terms as Cultural Shorthand.
This is a typically American way of communicating a currently trending topic.
Two of the newest terms would
to Vax or to Dox. Unless this is some formal or legally binding statement, why go through the hassle of writing out “Vaccination” or “Expose personal documents and data” every single time?
The Definition of Verbing in Grammar
There's even one from William Shakesspeare:
"Grace me no grace, and uncle me no uncles."
It is also a generational thing.
Old farts on Free Republic (I am proudly one of that lot) generally hate new verbings...
Are you saying you’d wedgie him?
And people who start off saying “I mean.” Before they’ve said anything at all.
I think that’s called the Peter Principle. Never understood why until now.
Holup.
Willie Brown has a few words to say...
That describes her from before she was Joe's VP to during her time as VP...
Upon seeing the headline, just off the top of my head, I immediately thought of such words as “whip” and “pillory”. We have always turned nouns into verbs, quite appropriately I think-tank.
My first full time job was working for Xerox fixing copiers in downtown Chicago
Even though they had pioneered and created Copiers we as employees were forbidden to refer to our equipment as the Xerox machine as copying is done through the Xerographic effect. So it was a model xxx machine or copier but NOT a Xerox machine.
1976
Rock On ...
Instead of needing to google for some information, I will simply go ogle it!
I admit, I struggled when it became common for people to say “We sell Quality products”, instead of “We sell products of high quality.”
This started in the late 1990s.
I don’t know why. Maybe there was some popular movie with that usage in the dialogue. No one seems to be bothered by it except me, so I no longer try to explain and correct.
There was once a time that French was the premier language for science and diplomacy but it been overtaken by English. Why? I think because the French wanted to keep the language “pure” while English was allowed to change.
Words mean what people think they mean. If turning a noun into a verb provides clearer understanding people will accept it, if not, they won’t.
At least Caroline Kennedy has an excuse.
Tucker Carlson, however, is an intelligent and well-educated fellow; yet he often says “I’m like...” He probably has teenagers at home. Still...
Understood.
Neither does the playing of Springsteen on the radio.
I don't have to like it, and I can reject it and never fall for the sound of the Sirens.
And yes, I need a hobby.
....but so do the 20+ FReepers posting to this thread so far.
We should especially resist the verb “google” because Google Search has become an utterly biased pay-to-play engine, which will only give you results the authorities think you should be allowed to see.
Is there a poll we can freep?
Oy! Don't get me started on THAT a-hole!
Even so, he'll fade like the rest of us; soon to be pushing up daisies.
Few people call a collection of musicians "cats" or specifically-dressed women "flappers" anymore.
And words like "niggardly" aren't used much today.
Fair enough...however...to me, Verbing seems like a lazy way of sounding smarter.
But then I bet people don't like how I talk. Nobody's perfect. So I'll use some perfect grammar in reply...
Has GrammarGuy noticed that, while he’s obsessing over nounverbing, apostrophe’s have been running rampant?
I don’t disagree at all.
I just know it’s utterly useless to get other people to follow our own language ideals, especially younger folk who will outlive us. But we will have our revenge at the end, when THEY are old and a newer generation comes up with a totally new stupid vernacular—that they’ll hate.
And Walken just needs more cowbell. He’ll be less cranky after that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.