Tuesday, October 02, 2007

verbifying

Who woulda thunk?
In his book "Word Spy," Paul McFedries writes that Google's attorneys send journalists who use google as a verb a stern letter that cites examples of appropriate ("I used Google to check out that guy I met at the party") and inappropriate ("I googled that hottie") uses.
but the NYTimes article continues:
It's beyond obvious that Google's lawyers are fighting a losing battle. And they should relax. Not only is "I googled that hottie" great publicity for the company, but it's fresh and funny and an excellent example of how anthimeria gives English an invigorating slap upside the head. At this very moment, the language is being regenerated with phrases like my bad, verbs like dumb down and weird out...

by Ben Yagoda who wrote a book that I think might be interesting: If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse.

1 comment:

Carol said...

I think "googled" should definitely be a verb.
But "my bad" is a terrible expression.