RE: I just heard another one

["Boudreaux, Madelyn (GE Healthcare, consultant)" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com>]

John Posada wrote:
>> Come. On. Now. (Use of initial caps for 
>> emphasis.)

>How is it that we find the grammar transgression of verbing 
>nouns so offensive, but it is OK to construct three sentences 
>out of those three words, which I don't think are valid sentences?

I think one difference is that the 1-word sentence for emphasis is
deliberately ironic, sarcastic, playful, or otherwise intended for an
amusing effect. Verbificated* nouns and nouncified* verbs, however, are
usually the result of thoughtlessness but are intended seriously. 

I've actually been trying (read: failing) to research to origin of this
usage. Best I can figure, it's from the Comic Book Guy from the
Simpsons, who speaks in a condescending manner to say things like,
"Worst. Episode. Ever."

This has expanded to include things like, "Oh. My. God. Buffy. Look. At.
Her. Socks," delivered sotto voce, which would definitely suggest that
whatever is going on with her socks, it's WELL worth looking at. And
it's ALWAYS addresses to Buffy, even if your friend to whom you are
speaking is not named Buffy. 

It's all about poetical* licensure*. 

- Madelyn

* - heh heh heh, I could do this all day! 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat