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Counterparts of speech

7nov2009: As the saying goes, "Verbing weirds language."

It's good for a laugh if you haven't heard it before, but there are people who utter this bon mot anytime someone does some verbing. It can be a conversation stopper. What can I say in reply - other than perhaps, lamely, "Yes. Yes it does."

I now have a countersign. Next time someone says that verbing weirds language, I am prepared to reply: "And gerunding nouns verbs. What of it?"

Perhaps my interlocutor will reply that "gerund" isn't a verb and that, even if it were, you couldn't gerund "gerund." That will have kept the conversation alive for another volley, giving someone time to introduce a new topic.

"Look, a monkey!"

(Hat tip to David Morgan Mar.)