FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » My eyes! My eyes!: A word-use that should not be born:

   
Author Topic: My eyes! My eyes!: A word-use that should not be born:
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
"Online a process for initiating requests."

Online? Online? ONLINE? ONLINE?Online as a verb? Oh my stars, I HATE lazy, meaningless, appalling business-speak!

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Damien
Member
Member # 5611

 - posted      Profile for Damien   Email Damien         Edit/Delete Post 
Good thing you onlined that complaint. >_>
Posts: 677 | Registered: Sep 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
*bursts in a splatter of well-punctuated despair*

[ June 11, 2004, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jon Boy
Member
Member # 4284

 - posted      Profile for Jon Boy           Edit/Delete Post 
*wails and gnashes teeth*
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Telperion the Silver
Member
Member # 6074

 - posted      Profile for Telperion the Silver   Email Telperion the Silver         Edit/Delete Post 
ewww... that IS bad...
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
I can certainly understand your desire to complaint about it.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
KarlEd
Member
Member # 571

 - posted      Profile for KarlEd   Email KarlEd         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm with ya on this one, Kat.
[Angst]

Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Sweet William
Member
Member # 5212

 - posted      Profile for Sweet William           Edit/Delete Post 
So Kat:

Someone actually said out loud "We need to on-line a process for....?"

How completely bizarre. I couldn't agree more. [Smile]

Posts: 524 | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Ophelia
Member
Member # 653

 - posted      Profile for Ophelia   Email Ophelia         Edit/Delete Post 
The linguist in me wants to say it's okay, to be happy about new word use . . . but it can't. Using "online" as a verb . . . I just don't like it.

I think this more than anything else demonstrates why I concentrated in cognitive linguistics and not sociolinguistics.

Posts: 3801 | Registered: Jan 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
beverly
Member
Member # 6246

 - posted      Profile for beverly   Email beverly         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm willing to bet English isn't the first language of the individual responsible for that horrendous sentance, in which case, I am very willing to allow leeway.

But if the general populace starts talking that way, I'm gonna punch somebody.

Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
I bet English was that person's first language.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
It was an accountant. *weeps*

[ June 11, 2004, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
beverly
Member
Member # 6246

 - posted      Profile for beverly   Email beverly         Edit/Delete Post 
That must have been one wasted college education.
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Shigosei
Member
Member # 3831

 - posted      Profile for Shigosei   Email Shigosei         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm all for coining new words. I even (you'll probably hate me for this, Jon Boy) don't mind the occasional use of a noun as a verb, depending on the circumstances. But this! Disgusting! *shudders*
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Taalcon
Member
Member # 839

 - posted      Profile for Taalcon   Email Taalcon         Edit/Delete Post 
I verb nouns all the time. But mostly in a lighthearted manner, not for use in official business communiques.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
twinky
Member
Member # 693

 - posted      Profile for twinky   Email twinky         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm sure some people once felt that way about "access."

"Remember when 'access' was a THING? Now it's something you DO. It got verbed." - Calvin & Hobbes

Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
A Rat Named Dog
Member
Member # 699

 - posted      Profile for A Rat Named Dog   Email A Rat Named Dog         Edit/Delete Post 
Man, I was already fed up with people using "online" as a noun. As in, "Do you have online? I got online the other day. Online is great." Now, a verb. Ugh.
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
TomDavidson
Member
Member # 124

 - posted      Profile for TomDavidson   Email TomDavidson         Edit/Delete Post 
Did you mean "born," "borne," or both? [Smile]
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ak
Member
Member # 90

 - posted      Profile for ak   Email ak         Edit/Delete Post 
I really like the ability to do this in English. I know it's horrible in bad businessspeak documents, but it's fun in real speech. In fact, I've been onlining intransitively nearly every night for years. I never onlined anything transitively before, but possibly only because I don't have a web page up. [Smile]

I'm afraid I'm guilty of doing this for fun all the time. And I think it makes English really flexible and powerful and terse.

When my oldest brother was small he liked to door his oreos. To this day I enjoy dooring my oreos. (When I get to eat oreos, that is.)

Since your job is fixing people's bad writing, then I know you will de-online this guy's prose <laughs> and it will read much better, I'm sure. But anyway, we'll still have the propensity in English to verb nouns and noun verbs. And for that I am glad. Now I've got to go to work to work. I'll be back later on tonight to online some more. [Smile]

Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
advice for robots
Member
Member # 2544

 - posted      Profile for advice for robots           Edit/Delete Post 
I won't online it, but if you'd like I can File Transfer Protocol it, email it, or even Instant Message it to you.

Maybe we should form a new acronym: OL. "Go ahead and OL that. I'll download it later."

In the words of the great Homer Simpson: "The Internet! They have that on computers now?"

Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
I too verb nouns for fun. But I actually enjoy the reverse process more . . . my father and I routinely crack each other up with our speakage.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
Tom:

[Smile] I did think of both. It's too bad they are spelled differently, for I had to choose one. It works better as a spoken (wailed) lament.

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Farmgirl
Member
Member # 5567

 - posted      Profile for Farmgirl   Email Farmgirl         Edit/Delete Post 
Isn't on-line always supposed to be hyphenated too? Or has it gone beyond that to be its own word now?

Farmgirl

Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Taalcon
Member
Member # 839

 - posted      Profile for Taalcon   Email Taalcon         Edit/Delete Post 
AFR does make a point - it's been accepted with Email, FTP, and AIM.

And I will unashamedly email a document, FTP a website, and AIM you later tonight.

It's part of the English language, like it or not.

To be honest, the most annoying use of the term 'online' is by people who say, "I'm going to go stand online at the deli."

You don't stand ON line, you stand IN line.

Silly people.

To quote High Fidelity, "You guys are snobs."

[Wink]

[ June 11, 2004, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: Taalcon ]

Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
I think part of the reason this bothers me so much is because it is unspecific. Email as a verb is obvious - it means to send an electronic letter, just like to mail means to send a letter through the traditional method.

Online doesn't really explain what he means - it doesn't an action verb's job. Does it mean to use an already-existing online form? Create that online form? What he quite obviously meant was "hey, do the online thingy" and was too lazy/scattered/rushed/illiterate/confident in me ( [Razz] ) to actually come up with a specific, coherent sentence.

I applaud when it makes the language better - more descriptive, more specific, widening horizons. Making online as a verb to mean "doing anything online" turns us into Homer Simpson. [Frown]

Edit: Because misspelling illiterate is pretty dang funny.

[ June 11, 2004, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
advice for robots
Member
Member # 2544

 - posted      Profile for advice for robots           Edit/Delete Post 
I think it's just an uneducated way of saying "upload."
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Taalcon
Member
Member # 839

 - posted      Profile for Taalcon   Email Taalcon         Edit/Delete Post 
To Online (v) to place on the inter- or intranet.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
Then he used it wrong. He was recommending that the council create an online form to allow employees to create requests.

How much would that suck? He makes up a word and uses it wrong straight out of the box. [Razz]

Edit: I swear, I only care about spelling in the Sticklers Unite threads.

ETA: Well, sort of wrong.

[ June 11, 2004, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
mr_porteiro_head
Member
Member # 4644

 - posted      Profile for mr_porteiro_head   Email mr_porteiro_head         Edit/Delete Post 
I love verbing. [Smile]
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jon Boy
Member
Member # 4284

 - posted      Profile for Jon Boy           Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with functional shifts in the language; it happens quite frequently and has been doing so for all of history. But when there's already an established word that not only says the same thing, but says it better, there's no excuse for trying to add new one.
_____

Farmgirl: Online is now usually a closed compound, though it is still occasionally hyphenated.

Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Polio
Member
Member # 6479

 - posted      Profile for Polio   Email Polio         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
It was an accountant.
And that is why they deal with numbers.
Posts: 165 | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:

quote:
I'm willing to bet English isn't the first language of the individual responsible for that horrendous sentence, in which case, I am very willing to allow leeway.
It was an accountant.
Ah, so English wasn't his/her first language.



quote:
it doesn't an action verb's job.
*snicker*

[ June 11, 2004, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]

Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
hansenj
Member
Member # 4034

 - posted      Profile for hansenj   Email hansenj         Edit/Delete Post 
I'd just like to take this moment to interrupt this thread and say that I love it when Katharina says, "Oh my stars." [Smile] I don't know, but it makes me smile.

Carry on... [Wink]

Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
rivka, I read your post five times before I figured out what was so funny. [Razz]
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
David Bowles
Member
Member # 1021

 - posted      Profile for David Bowles   Email David Bowles         Edit/Delete Post 
It's called "anthimeria," folks, and it's been practiced for milennia.
Posts: 5663 | Registered: Jun 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
Duh. It's still a terribly-constructed sentence.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
Hi David! [Smile]

(Nice preenage.)

[ June 12, 2004, 12:33 AM: Message edited by: Icarus ]

Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Mabus
Member
Member # 6320

 - posted      Profile for Mabus   Email Mabus         Edit/Delete Post 
Shouldn't the title of this thread read "...not be borne"?
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
Nope. The word choice was deliberate.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
rivka, I read your post five times before I figured out what was so funny. [Razz]
*giggle*
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Bob_Scopatz
Member
Member # 1227

 - posted      Profile for Bob_Scopatz   Email Bob_Scopatz         Edit/Delete Post 
You know, an editor in 1542 was equally horrified the first time someone set "We need to document that."

[Big Grin]

Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2