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A doing word. For example, in the phrase “''the [[mediocre lawyer|solicitor]] butchered the English language'',” “butchered” is the {{tag|verb}}. | A doing word. For example, in the phrase “''the [[mediocre lawyer|solicitor]] butchered the English language'',” “butchered” is the {{tag|verb}}. | ||
A good way to butcher the language is to | A good way to butcher the language is to convert your {{tag|verb}}s to {{tag|noun}}s. You can do this easily: take an interesting {{tag|verb}} (like ''butcher''), castrate it by adding a duller verb in front of it (like “to ''subject'' to”<ref>Pendants will delight that the verb “to subject” itself started out life as a noun</ref>.) and then humiliate it by saddling it with an ugly {{tag|suffix}}. For example a ''y'', or an ''ification'' - upon which act of desecration it will be a [[noun]]. This is called [[nominalisation]], and lawyers do it all the time. | ||
''The solicitor butchered the English language'' <br> | ''The solicitor butchered the English language'' <br> | ||
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Extra points are available if you can convert an {{tag|active}} {{tag|noun}} into the {{tag|passive}} at the same time. For this, your best friends are ''[[obliged]]'' to be ''[[applicable]]''. | Extra points are available if you can convert an {{tag|active}} {{tag|noun}} into the {{tag|passive}} at the same time. For this, your best friends are ''[[obliged]]'' to be ''[[applicable]]''. | ||
For bonus points and a shot at the [[challenging stage]], take a verb you have nominalised, and convert it back into a verb again. As a [[lawyer]], you are almost ''[[obligated]]'' to. | |||
{{c|Plain English}} | {{c|Plain English}} | ||
{{ref}} | {{ref}} |