Post AW9vctfel8gewd5Gym by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AW9U4c2x594lfxPLk0 by stancarey@mastodon.ie
2023-05-29T15:25:40Z
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I've seen "solution" verbed quite a bit, as in "Let's solution that", but until today I don't remember seeing its complement, the nouning of "solve": "What are the solves?"Rule 1 of verbing and nouning: It's nearly always older than you think. OED's first citation for "solve" as a noun? 1780.#language #words #grammar #OED
(DIR) Post #AW9U4cmgL7ehxmns1I by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T15:59:21Z
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@stancarey Even when there is historical precedent, these unusual verbings typically carry an unpleasant odour of corporate newspeak. My opinion is that when a perfectly good verb like "solve" exists, this should be the preferred choice. Likewise for nouns, obviously.
(DIR) Post #AW9X1NRXDkQDNT3ThA by stancarey@mastodon.ie
2023-05-29T16:32:18Z
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@mansr They often do, but if they spread beyond those domains and associations, they can lose the odour. People hated "contact" as a verb when it first reared its head. Novel verbings etc. may be motivated by a wish to sound innovative, so "preferred" is very context-dependent
(DIR) Post #AW9ZuPWdNdvVfeoHi4 by ordinal@mas.to
2023-05-29T17:04:43Z
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@mansr @stancarey I think in this instance it may feel worse because there was a corporate fashion for calling everything a "solution". You weren't a refuse disposal company, you offered "refuse disposal solutions". Private Eye had a regular column of them.
(DIR) Post #AW9aWcsAChla4S6QfQ by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T17:11:39Z
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@stancarey I don't remember "contact" being controversial. Maybe I'm too young. I also can't think of an alternative verb with the same meaning. "Make contact with" is unwieldy enough that the shorter verbing seems like a natural evolution to me. "Solution" as a verb offers no benefit that I can discern over the regular "solve."Spanish, curiously, has the noun "solución" and the verb "solucionar."
(DIR) Post #AW9b4ViZJNT7j6lvu4 by stancarey@mastodon.ie
2023-05-29T17:17:44Z
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@mansr The heyday of "contact" protest was well before our lifetimes, but even today some sticklers reject it. Strunk & White 1959 condemned it, recommending that people instead "phone", "find", or "meet" someone, but by then people had become used to it and appreciated its handiness
(DIR) Post #AW9bmT3iYgX8Docnh2 by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T17:25:43Z
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@stancarey Those alternative suggestions are all more specific. With means of communication growing in numbers, it's convenient to have a generic word that covers them all.On that note, how do people feel about "text" as a verb?
(DIR) Post #AW9c6j70aDSVnjpACO by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T17:29:10Z
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@outeast @stancarey Interesting. I suppose this is to distinguish the act of solving from the solution arrived at.
(DIR) Post #AW9nH76xJCU0cnxH16 by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
2023-05-29T19:34:26Z
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@mansr @stancarey What else do you call text messaging?
(DIR) Post #AW9nSUOj4Ob224gv5s by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T19:36:34Z
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@AccordionBruce @stancarey I'm fine with it, but I'm sure someone, somewhere is not.
(DIR) Post #AW9pfJMvaQblV25lWi by outeast@mastodon.green
2023-05-29T20:01:15Z
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@mansr @stancarey Pretty much. The examples for the Wiktionary entry are similar, such as Nancy Drew being congratulated for a good solve. The enjoyment in cryptics of course comes from the process of solving them, not the solution itself, so "solution" doesn't have the right meaning. Stan's reference to hearing "solves" doesn't sound like the same thing, though he didn't supply context, but corporate nouning and verbing is an odd beast at times.
(DIR) Post #AW9tQ0tMOtp1fRDsY4 by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
2023-05-29T20:43:19Z
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@mansr @stancarey nThe Neologism seems like a different issueTexting books and stories by the dozen are filled with concern from adults about kids ruining spelling and punctuation Actually, I just checked and a lot of the “texting” books are about optimizing effectiveness on dating websites 🧡
(DIR) Post #AW9tneIW3bQCXhG9eS by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T20:47:36Z
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@AccordionBruce @stancarey What is a "texting book"? I have never seen that term before.
(DIR) Post #AW9u232mqcRdLVlhc8 by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
2023-05-29T20:50:13Z
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@mansr @stancarey We need a word for this A book about texting
(DIR) Post #AW9uGAjx1vsjGlh1sG by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T20:52:43Z
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@AccordionBruce @stancarey How is that a thing? Are there books about making phone calls or sending emails too?
(DIR) Post #AW9vctfel8gewd5Gym by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
2023-05-29T21:07:58Z
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@mansr @stancarey There were definitely books about sending emails when email was popularizedI have recently seen the book-length design and user-testing study for the touchtone keypad 🔢 that replaced the rotary phone dial 📞 They tried really hard to make it simple and intuitive enough that people didn’t need to read a book about it
(DIR) Post #AW9wH7BPwMOER47L6G by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2023-05-29T21:15:21Z
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@AccordionBruce @stancarey Hmm, I guess I'm glad I missed those.
(DIR) Post #AWA2XlBZZxw4rLVhho by AccordionBruce@mastodon.social
2023-05-29T22:25:31Z
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@mansr @stancarey Back when each desktop OS update saw dictionary-size print book of tips and tricks, they also had books to introduce the original handheld devices 📱Which books all got pulped a year or so later after the next OS update 📚Reminds me of this from @mkirschenbaum about people carrying Super Computers in their pockets and using them as the simplest of word processorsWhich we call Texting on our Phoneshttps://amp.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/30/track-changes-a-literary-history-of-word-processing-matthew-kirschenbaum-review