Gifted??
Dec 30, 2015 09:41:17 #
Dec 30, 2015 09:50:28 #
jaymatt wrote:
Just an idle question--when and how did the word "gift" become a verb? That usage drives me crazy.
I get a bit tweaked about some grammar practices, too.
Also, thanks to Mark for posting the link to a grammar site.
--Bob
Dec 30, 2015 10:08:34 #
But my early equipment was gifted to me. J. R.
jaymatt wrote:
Well, your screen name uses the word as an adjective, and that's ok with me.
Dec 30, 2015 10:42:47 #
This brings to mind the misuse, or mispronunciation of the word regardless. It is not "irregardless". The correct misuse of regardless is, "undisirregarless".
Dec 30, 2015 11:01:10 #
Dec 30, 2015 12:38:34 #
jaymatt wrote:
:thumbup: What drives me crazy is the seemingly overuse of the term. No one ever gives anything anymore; they gift it instead. Hearing that term is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. It's apparently a good thing I retired from teaching composition before the term crept into writing, for they'd probably have to carry me away in a straightjacket.
I also taught composition for many years. Now, if you don't mind, I'll grade your composition. In your first sentence, you use the word "seemingly," an adverb, but you should have used the adjectival form, "seeming." (You wouldn't write "apparently overuse," would you?) In your last sentence, you write "straightjacket," but the correct spelling is "straitjacket."
My most irritating word: ABSOLUTELY. (I had a shiver down my back while typing the damn word.) Just listen for it and then add it to your list of fingernail-on-chalkboard experiences. :-D
Dec 30, 2015 12:47:05 #
Maybe all this word gaming started becoming popular when the legends in their own mind useful idiot crowd discovered politically correctness. I can't really say people who use language in that way actually set my teeth on edge but I do tend to lower my opinion of them a few notches when they exclaim they had a "fun" time or use "gay" to describe other than a very pleasant experience. For me it will always be remembered this way: http://artists.letssingit.com/billie-holiday-lyrics-ill-be-seeing-you-98gjzl3#axzz3vpKx1riF
Dec 30, 2015 13:03:22 #
[quote=u02bnpx]I also taught composition for many years. Now, if you don't mind, I'll grade your composition. In your first sentence, you use the word "seemingly," an adverb, but you should have used the adjectival form, "seeming." (You wouldn't write "apparently overuse," would you?) In your last sentence, you write "straightjacket," but the correct spelling is "straitjacket."
My most irritating word: ABSOLUTELY. (I had a shiver down my back while typing the damn word.) Just listen for it and then add it to your list of fingernail-on-chalkboard experiences. :-D[/quot
First, overuse can be considered a predicate adjective, making seemingly an ok use. As for straitjacket, the American Heritage Dictionary lists straightjacket as an acceptable variant of strait jacket. I guess I didn't screw up after all. Sorry.
I, too, am not a fan of the word absolutely. :-D
My most irritating word: ABSOLUTELY. (I had a shiver down my back while typing the damn word.) Just listen for it and then add it to your list of fingernail-on-chalkboard experiences. :-D[/quot
First, overuse can be considered a predicate adjective, making seemingly an ok use. As for straitjacket, the American Heritage Dictionary lists straightjacket as an acceptable variant of strait jacket. I guess I didn't screw up after all. Sorry.
I, too, am not a fan of the word absolutely. :-D
Dec 30, 2015 14:21:05 #
Ok, to add to the mix...when did *theater* become : thee-ter? (no hyphen, just fooling auto correct.
Dec 30, 2015 16:49:10 #
Dec 30, 2015 17:25:35 #
u02bnpx wrote:
I also taught composition for many years. Now, if ... (show quote)
Jaymatt is irritated by the word ABSOLUTELY, give a thought to Swedish folk who are irritated by the same word, in Swedish the word ABSOLUT can be used to mean the same as the following adverbs, Absolutely, utterly, quite, rather, heart and soul, flatly, very, much, every time, and more. So it would seem it is used constantly.
John. B
Dec 30, 2015 18:34:29 #
I never give those things a thought, if I can understand it I just move on! :wink:
Dec 30, 2015 18:49:54 #
jaymatt wrote:
Just an idle question--when and how did the word "gift" become a verb? That usage drives me crazy.
Yeah, someone facebooked me about that yesterday...
Dec 31, 2015 00:29:39 #
bluetail wrote:
I know several gifted musicians.
That usage, as an adjective, is a good one. It's the use as a verb that bothers me.
Dec 31, 2015 00:55:11 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
Major dictionaries seem to list it as both a noun and a verb, and apparently that isn't a new thing. You can "give" something to someone without it being a "gift."
I gave someone herpes once, I didn't even get a thank you. Ingrate.
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