posted
"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 |
posted
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 |
posted
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 |
posted
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 |
posted
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 |
posted
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 |
posted
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.
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. Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
| IP: Logged |
posted
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 |
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 |
posted
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 ( ) 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.
Edit: Because misspelling illiterate is pretty dang funny.
posted
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 |
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.
posted
I'd just like to take this moment to interrupt this thread and say that I love it when Katharina says, "Oh my stars." I don't know, but it makes me smile.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
) to actually come up with a specific, coherent sentence.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
