Nominalisation

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Why say “issue a notification to” when you mean “tell”?
Why say “have a discussion about” when you mean “discuss”?
Why say “we are supportive of” when you mean “we support”?

Nominalisation is the act, as adored by solicitors as it is loathed by anyone having a fondness for the English language, of emasculating a perfectly usable verb by making it into a noun (or adjective) and jamming a more boring verb in front of it.

Effecting a nominalisation: grammatical cross-dressing

The worst kind of nominalisation goes a step further: not only must the poor verb dress up as a noun; an equally unsuspecting noun must behave like a verb. “Effect” is this kind of nominalisation.


See also