I’m bringing up this topic because some LitNutters have disagreed with my criticism of using the noun “reference” as a verb in the title of a thread in the General Literature forum:
http://www.online-literature.com/for...ce-great-books
One replier copied the entry from a dictionary which does accept “reference” as a transitive verb, but I have to say that it has only been very recently – - in this LitNet thread and from the lips of commentators on several cable news shows, that I’ve ever read or heard “reference” used as a verb-- and, as you know, I don’t like it.
Adding unnecessary syllables to turn a good noun into a fuzzy verb is in effect trying to fix what hasn’t been broken. Since we already have a perfectly good verb already -- "refer” -- why would we want to "verb a noun"? For the record, the print dictionary which I have in my hand --The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language-- lists seven meanings for "reference" -- and they're all nouns, not a verb in the bunch.
You might wonder why I’d bristle over such a trivial distinction. It worries me because it is a symptom of a larger issue. It’s not just “reference” used as a predicate that bothers me, but this recent trend of “verbing the noun.” I’m not alone in my misgivings about the practice; for instance, some contributors to the annual List of Banished Words posted annually by Lake Superior State University have also expressed their disdain for nouns that have been changed into verbs.
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to be characterized as a “prescriptive grammarian;”
nor do I believe that the language should stay “pure” (whatever that means) or free from
change. The definition of a “dead language” is one that stops changing, like Latin. English is wonderfully “alive!” I believe that our English language really does "evolve:" for instance, it’s fascinating to watch slang words becoming colloquial, and then eventually becoming "standard" (whatever that means.)
There is a real danger with loaded jargon, though, in that it can undermine communication, confuse formerly direct statements, and dump a superfluous crouton into what may already be an overstuffed word salad. My “A Word With You” blogs from a year or two ago looked at language to see not only how it "evolves," but "devolves"; we've already seen numerous examples of Orwellian style "Newspeak" in political diatribes , advertising spectacles, and especially corporate discourse.
Some sports commentators can be brilliant wordmasters but all too often their compulsion to fill dead air time will produce such neologisms, as the "verbed nouns" listed by a British columnist last year:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog...-harry-pearson
So, LitNutters, tell me what you think. Do you think it’s a good idea to “verb a noun”? If so, why?