Verbage

I am constantly in awe at the flexibility and adaptability of the English language. It's creative, expressive potential is virtually limitless, especially when one takes into account the hundreds, perhaps thousands of words in the dictionary that we rarely use (some for good reason). And for those occasions when all existing vocabulary choices fall short, we have the option of inventing our own words to capture the specific concept, idea, feeling, or action we're trying to describe to our audience.

One of the best aspects of this linguistic mutability is the morphing of nouns into verbs. Just about any noun can become a verb nowadays, as evidenced by the phenomenon known as Google. Young users of the Internet probably have no idea that "google" is actually a numeric value, not simply a verb that means "to run an Internet search on." "Googling" is verbification (itself a new word) at its finest.

Other examples: I recently heard a coworker talk about spending his time not only parenting but also "spousing." A Microsoft rep, in a radio interview I heard not long ago, said that the company had just updated its spell-checker not only to include some previously uncommon names such as "Barack Obama" and "Osama" (as in, bin Laden), but also to validate the usage of words like "waitress" as verbs, not just nouns.

On the opposite side of the coin, my three-year-old nephew, when confounded by a vocabulary deficiency such as those endemic to small children still learning terminology, frequently turns sound effects from Lego Star Wars weapons into the names of the weapons themselves. Thus, a laser gun that makes a "bashoo"-ing sound when it shoots (according to my nephew's transliteration) becomes a "bashoo-er." As in, "I'm attacking you with my bashoo-er, Mace Windu." Although this method of word invention makes for some entertaining discussions--the interpretation of which is heavily context-dependent--I do think it's quite a clever way for the little guy to express himself when his grasp of the English language fails him.

Really, that's what communication often is: finding alternate ways to convey an intended meaning when traditional, perhaps more precise, terminology escapes or isn't available to us.

Now, if you'll all please excuse me, I need to go shoot some Storm Troopers with my bashoo-er.