benhall.1 wrote:Here, where things are, arguably, simpler, it would probably be a challenge ...
I'm not so sure about "simpler". On my end that's definitely a complication.
benhall.1 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 2:02 amI don't like nouns as verbs at all.
See, for me they're playful. But it can't be done willy-nilly; the only way I would say "Glass me" is if I were offered the choice between a mug or a glass, say. More probably I would say, "A glass, please." "Beer me" is quite different: it says, "I'm here for beer, so just slather me in it and pour it down my happy gullet as I joyfully wallow in beerness." Again, put simply, "Beer me" means "Give me beer". That's it. So too, in varying degrees of success, with any number of commodities (at the garden shop: "Pesticide or ladybugs?" "Ladybug me."), and off the top of my head I can't think of any alternative meanings for the form other than as in "Google me", because Googling is not a giving but an extraction, and no one can give you what already figuratively owns you, anyway.
Both sides of the Pond use "pen" and "chair" as verbs, so from my end, there's nothing untoward in extending the device, but as I said, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. "Glass" as a verb in the midst of a bar spat is so unlikely as to be downright strange. In the extremely unlikely event I were to strike someone with a glass, I wouldn't say I glassed them; the phrase would only work if hitting people with a glass were so customary as to be expected. When embroiled in the heat of conflict, we tend away from flights of editorial fancy, for there's business afoot. And I can tell you I wouldn't threaten; as a practical matter, I don't believe in broadcasting my tactical plans. The only warning they need is to back off. "Back off": there's another one. See, that's one of the things I love about English: so much of it is double-duty and stretchy, and most of the time we don't even realize we're doing it. It makes for a lively tongue.
As you might guess, de-escalation is my preferred strategy. Peace, dude.
"Glass" as a verb is more likely in the case of spaces, such as a conservatory: "No worries about the weather; it's all glassed in." IOW, the space is entirely enclosed by glass, and staunch enough for shelter. Not only is "glass" verbed, but adding to the outrage, "in" works as an adverb, just as in "worn out". Talk about stretchy.
I had a raconteur friend who, given a choice of meats for his order, said to the server, "Pork me." His wife was not amused. It was the 80s, by the way.
benhall.1 wrote:Interestingly, I think you're wrong about the word 'impact'. At least according to Chambers, that one started out as a verb and has become a noun.
I never would have guessed. Fascinating, this ebb and flow we ride on - mainly unbeknownst - in our language.
david_h wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:02 amIf at the end of a period where a number of things could of gone either way but none of them went the way someone wanted they said "I think I am lucked out" would people like Nano understand it even though it's the opposite of their normal usage?
I would understand it indeed; here I understood it right away, and found myself pleasantly surprised. I'd never considered this detail before, but for me, the "am" changes everything, so that "I'm lucked out" and "I lucked out" have completely opposite meanings. Totally makes no sense, I'm sure.
daveboling wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:40 am
As far as "I could care less" goes, I have heard it in a longer phrase ""I could care less, but it's not worth the effort" ...
Now the formation is redeemed and makes grammatic sense, but that's the only way it can work for me, for without the explaining bit, it's a non-starter. Can't say as I've ever heard the longer version before, and TBH the sentiment's not one I would ever entertain (that's the basis of Ben's and my objection to it: How - and why - could one be able to care less about something for which one already cares nothing at all, really?), but I get it, so far as it goes. Still not going to use it, though: When I care nothing for something, there's no further to go.