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To: bikepacker67; BibChr

"Quote" is a verb that sloppy writers have used as a noun for an unfortunately long time, and I see no end to it. That doesn't mean that purists must bow to it.


480 posted on 03/24/2005 8:29:16 AM PST by Xenalyte (I am at Dr. Venture's lab to right that which is wrong and to repair the torn curtain of time itself)
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To: Xenalyte
"Quote" is a verb that sloppy writers have used as a noun for an unfortunately long time, and I see no end to it. That doesn't mean that purists must bow to it.

And Goodbye is longtime bastardized version of God be with you. But that's the point; languages evolve and change.

557 posted on 03/24/2005 8:40:14 AM PST by bikepacker67 (#)
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To: Xenalyte
"Quote" is a verb that sloppy writers have used as a noun for an unfortunately long time, and I see no end to it. That doesn't mean that purists must bow to it.

For over 600 years, according to the OED. (Though, in the present sense, only back to the 16th century.) Exactly how "pure" of an English language do you speak at home? Trying to cut out all the Norman influence?

691 posted on 03/24/2005 9:07:30 AM PST by Caesar Soze
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To: Xenalyte

Never mind, I figured it out. The proper noun is "quoth," or rather cwað. It goes back to at least A.D. 1200. So that's the word that "purists" are defending against the Johnny-come-lately "quote." I can't keep up with this pre-Chaucerian Middle English, so I'll stick to the modern, if incorrect, usage.


719 posted on 03/24/2005 9:13:50 AM PST by Caesar Soze
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