Word Wednesday: Verbing Nouns

Let me start out by saying, yes, I know that this isn’t a new phenomenon*. In fact, some verbing is necessary. For example, what am I doing right now? I am blogging (v.)—that is, writing and sharing on my blog (n.)—my Web (adj., n.) log (n.). And so on and so forth, into the depths of time. When the first word was a gruff … “Mine!” (followed by a thwack! as the Neanderthal emphasized his ownership of the last haunch of semi-roasted meat).

But really, with a language as replete with words as the English language, do we need to destroy any last vestiges of everyday poetry by using wretched verbed nouns?

Do we need to “dialogue” with our children about talking to strangers on the street?

Is “gifting” someone a book on Amazon the best we can do?

When we have a problem with a co-worker, can we do no better than “interfacing” with them to solve it?

Can we really be so disappointed that Bode Miller didn’t “medal” at all in Torino?

And, my least favorite: Must I really know that the current unrest in the Middle East continues to “impact” fuel prices around the world? (It is my least favorite because, to me, using impact in this way conveys the essence of constipation, discomfort, and cramps…blech.)

So please, let’s talk with our children, purchase gifts for our loved ones, resolve misunderstandings with our colleagues, move beyond Bode’s disappointing Olympic results (because there's always another competition around the bend), and contemplate the effects of civil unrest on our nasty drug habit: oil addiction.

Because language isn’t a business plan.

Because action words should have charisma.

Because I don’t like being reminded of constipation.

*I really should start all my Wednesdays with this asterisk representing the disclaimer, so that I don’t have to say it every time.