Adjectivisation: Difference between revisions

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{{a|plainenglish|{{Subtable|''This'' sentence is indicative of [[adjectivisation]]. <br>''This'' one indicates elegant prose. }}}}The lexo-crime of taking a perfectly good [[verb]], having it identify as an [[adjective]] and then demeaning it by sticking an inferior, ''dull'', verb — like be, make, do, give, or worst of all ''[[effect]]'' — in front of it. Dead giveaways constructions include the [[passive]] and the word [[of]]. So, where one on the [[Clapham omnibus]] might say,
{{a|plainenglish|{{Subtable|''This'' sentence is indicative of [[adjectivisation]]. <br>''This'' one indicates elegant prose. }}}}The lexo-crime of taking a perfectly good [[verb]], having it identify as an [[adjective]] and then demeaning it by sticking an inferior, ''dull'', verb — like be, make, do, give, or worst of all ''[[effect]]'' — in front of it. Dead giveaways constructions include the [[passive]] and the word “[[of]]”.  
{{quote|“Last night I shot an [[elephant]] in my pyjamas.”}}
An nominaliser might say:
{{quote|“Last night the shooting was carried out by me, in my pyjamas, of an [[elephant]]”}}
 
Now we should concede at once that the nominalised version forces on us a more disciplined grammar: it is beyond doubt that it is me, and not the elephant who is wearing my pyjamas. That ruins it as a setup for Groucho Marx’s punchline, of course, and it comes at the expense of energy and elegance. In this case, too, it is punctilliousness not really needed given the ''context''. And if yhou really wanted to be that guy, there is always the stilted, but unambiguous, “last night, in my pyjamas, I shot an elephant.”


{{sa}}
{{sa}}
*[[nominalisation]]
*[[nominalisation]]

Revision as of 18:11, 3 February 2022

Towards more picturesque speech™

This sentence is indicative of adjectivisation.
This one indicates elegant prose.

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The lexo-crime of taking a perfectly good verb, having it identify as an adjective and then demeaning it by sticking an inferior, dull, verb — like be, make, do, give, or worst of all effect — in front of it. Dead giveaways constructions include the passive and the word “of”.

See also

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