I'm not at the top of my game this morning. It was a long weekend, okay? So I sent an e-mail to my friend Tony, about a fine golf course we played over the weekend.
"I'm still kind of obsessing" about the golf course, I wrote.
My man writes back, "You can live with a verb form of obsess if you like, but keep it away from me, please."
I thanked him for the gentle correction, and wondered if this is how language gets corroded, bit by bit: One tired writer senselessly verbs a noun and a tired reader lets it go.
Thanks, Tony, for being both vigilant and assertive.
Comments (20)
David,
I need to stand up for you on this one. You were right, even if you didn't know it. Obsess is now in at least one dictionary as a verb.
As an editor my top pet peeve for years was writers using "transition" as a verb, when it really was the noun form of the verb "to transit." However, I caved in one day when I found it in a dictionary as a verb.
That is indeed how our language evolves -- through both use and misues. By the way, I could have written "thru" in that last sentence because it to has now earned legit status through misuse.
And so it goes...
Will
Posted by Will Daniel | April 28, 2008 11:02 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:02
Thanks, Will, but just because it's in the dictionary doesn't mean it's usage I have to honor by using it.
"Irregardless" has been in the dictionary for years just because half-literate morons use it to mean the same as "regardless."
Next year's dictionary editions will have "nucular" as a correct pronunciation, I bet.
I don't want to be the sort of guy who's talking about things I "obsess" over. "Obsess" is cheap and cheesy.
Posted by David Murray | April 28, 2008 11:14 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:14
I hear you loud and clear. I still edit "transition" to some other verb whenever possible. But I don't "obsess" over it.
But your post has a deeper issue to consider. Aren't you the least bit uncomfortable about a friend who corrects your language?
Will
Posted by Will Daniel | April 28, 2008 11:31 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:31
No. This friend and I talk about language all the time, and based on our mutual sense of taste, he was rightfully surprised to see me use "obsess."
Just as I would have been had I asked him the weather forcast and he said, "A wintry mix."
No,
Posted by David Murray | April 28, 2008 12:04 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 12:04
I've always thought to obsess was a verb. Look at the derivation.
Unabridged M-W:
Main Entry: obsess Pronunciation Guide
Function: verb
intransitive verb : to engage in obsessive thinking : become obsessed with an idea
Main Entry: ob·sess Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: bses, äb-
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -ed/-ing/-es
Etymology: Latin obsessus, past participle of obsidre to sit at, possess, besiege, from ob- toward, against, over + sedre to sit -- more at OB-, SIT
1 obsolete : BESIEGE, INVEST
2 a archaic : HAUNT, POSSESS, BESET b : to occupy an undue or disproportionate place in the mind of : trouble continuously in mind
Posted by Diane | April 28, 2008 12:27 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 12:27
It's not incorrect, Diane. It's a matter of taste.
It's a popular usage today to say, "OMG, I'm so obsessing about my weight lately!"
It's legal, it's okay, but it's just not my style to say I'm still "obsessing" about some stupid golf course I played over the weekend.
And my friend, who knows my style, noticed.
I've similarly gone after Steve Crescenzo lately for saying on his blog, in praise of someone's funny story, "What a hoot!"
He tried to defend himself for about five seconds, and then shrugged: Okay, you got me.
Posted by David Murray | April 28, 2008 12:31 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 12:31
David, I tell you this as a dear friend, but you're sounding a bit hoity toity on this one. So much so I may obsess for your reputation all day long.
Now if you want to talk about how Klassy Kuts or Kwik Klean Kars are abominations to all grammar gentility, I can get onboard with that one.
But you're nitpicking. Or is it you are a nitpicker? Can I use that as a verb? Great, now I'm obsessing again.
Vicious circle, my friend, vicious circle.
Posted by Eileen Burmeister | April 28, 2008 12:41 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 12:41
'tis surely a matter of taste. I don't mind self-conscious wordplay involved in calling a convenience-store bauble shop Kwik Kitsch. I mind the thoughtless cheapening of a word, "obsession," that's meant to describe for a powerful human experience.
"Obsess" relegates the term to suggest, "Gee, isn't it cute that I'm thinking a lot about a thing or a subject that others would deem unimportant."
Posted by David Murray | April 28, 2008 2:00 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 14:00
After reading the post and the comments, I have a question: what is the first verb in this sentence: "One tired writer senselessly verbs a noun and a tired reader lets it go."
How about this: "One tired writer deliberately verbs a noun and all the tired readers let it go to obsess about obsessing."
I think what saves it is the word "senselessly." I think. Or maybe I'm obsessing about verbing nouns? Or maybe only when verbing nouns is done senselessly? Can you verb a noun? And to equal time it (verb form of equal time), can you noun a verb?
I'm definitely obessing.
Posted by Glynn Young | April 28, 2008 2:04 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 14:04
OMG, Glynn, you are SO obsessing, ROTFL!
Posted by David Murray | April 28, 2008 2:11 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 14:11
My nicely literary nephew is getting married in a month, and their announcements say, "We're wedding!" I like that a lot.
Also, there's some new TV show whose TV ads show this in big letters: OMFG. We all know what it means. What I wonder is when saying something like that got to be okay.
Posted by Jane Greer | April 28, 2008 7:57 PM
Posted on April 28, 2008 19:57
Jane, I saw that ad yesterday and thought the exact same thing!
Posted by Kasia | April 29, 2008 9:13 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 09:13
Not sure when, Jane, but not surprising it's in the same decade of the clothing brand, FCUK.
Posted by David Murray | April 29, 2008 9:16 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 09:16
One of my editor friends once said the English language is a whore -- she'll take anything on. No doubt she was quoting someone else, but the sentiment is true. That's why we have words like "ginormous" (Eileen's personal fave), irregardless, and a variety of nouns that have become verbs (e.g., access, obsess) recognized by dictionaries that we once thought of as respectiable. I supposed all we word purists can comfort ourselves with is the idea that people love words so much that they're making up new ones, or coming up with new uses for old ones.
Posted by Amy | April 29, 2008 12:02 PM
Posted on April 29, 2008 12:02
Please don't forget to use my invented word: vomitaceous (my word, so I'll spell it any way I want) -- causing one to want to vomit. Thanks.
Will
Posted by Will Daniel | April 29, 2008 4:45 PM
Posted on April 29, 2008 16:45
Along the same lines as "OMFG" in an ad is the CarMax ad in which two Christopher Columbus-era characters are talking about the fact that a ship dealer will ship the customer's ship to him. The customer exclaims, "Are you shippin' me?" I'm always a little uncomfortable watching that one with my impressionable young son.
Posted by Robert J Holland, ABC | April 30, 2008 7:54 AM
Posted on April 30, 2008 07:54
That's a groaner even without the scatological aspect, is it not?
Posted by David Murray | April 30, 2008 8:10 AM
Posted on April 30, 2008 08:10
Yes, which makes it doubly offensive!
Posted by Robert J Holland, ABC | April 30, 2008 9:00 AM
Posted on April 30, 2008 09:00
The slippery slope started a long time ago with "Helluva Good" brand cheese and "The Best Damn Sports Show." Consumers who buy the products and/or tune in to the show are to blame for allowing it to happen. Period. Where is the backlash, the disgust, the boycott? Nowhere. Nobody cares. And so it goes.
Will
Posted by Will Daniel | April 30, 2008 11:28 AM
Posted on April 30, 2008 11:28
Yeah, those motherf---- uh, never mind.
Posted by Robert J Holland, ABC | May 1, 2008 1:10 PM
Posted on May 1, 2008 13:10