Trending Vocab: Verbalizing
"Well, I googled the recipe for that perfect guacamole!" Now how's that? Did you ''Google'' the recipe or did you ''search on the Internet''? The latter may appear as a term conventionally preferred but the former increasingly trends in usage. And despite the fact that one may use several other search engines to look up a fact, one simply ''googles'' it. Interesting, isn't it? One of the most flourishing developments in modern communication is the burgeoning use of verbalizing.
Verbalizing implies converting nouns to verbs. Though primarily a grammatical affair, verbalizing has recently become a popular style in tète-à-tète. Accordingly, a host of commonplace terms, expressions and phrases have acquired a face lift, so much so that our generation of youngsters uses them with easy familiarity. The tendency goes on to embrace a host of English speakers who find themselves using innocuous, modern-day versions of the more accustomed, typically used words and phrases. You may ''airbrush'' a picture, but it is rather acceptable to say that you ''Photoshopped'' it. Whether you have the Photoshop tool or not, the term ''Photoshopped'' simply implies some sort of a camouflage that could have created a more endearing version of the real thing. Cool, isn't that?
Now, will you ''unlike'' me for being wacky or simply ''message'' me saying that you do not quite appreciate the way I'm getting along? Alternatively, you could 'inbox' me your number and I could call to explain myself. You may recoil at my lingo, but I guess I'm fine as long I'm ''Facebooking!'' However, if you still dislike me, you simply have to ''unfriend'' me. Notice how the Internet and social networking make vocabulary faddishly easy.
Verbalizing nouns has definitely to do with grammar, but modern day verbalizing has, to a marked degree, ''compartmentalized'' itself into informal conversation and social networking. Your friend's teen kid has made news by ''summiting'' the Everest. And while the kiddo may cringe about ''rooming'' with a geek at college, he has certainly chanced upon ''interfacing'' with a rocket scientist. For all you know, they may just ''partner'' on a new project and enjoy ''dialoguing'' about mutual interests.
Much of the recent verbalizing trends can be attributed to the Americanization of English. As British English is rapidly incorporating American flavors, ''verbalise'' with -ise is now written as ''verbalize'' with an -ize. Thus, it isn't uncommon to use words like ''symptomize,'' ''commercialize'' '''radicalize,'' or ''glamorize,'' yet it is more of a trend to say ''twitterize'' yourself, ''vampirize'' the guy and ''calendarize'' the events. These catch phrases may not have found their way into mainstream dictionary but there's something called an Urban Dictionary. Did you know about that yet?
It is a fact that users of English have taken certain words to the gallows and reincarnated them with a dash of colloquialism. Nevertheless, one mustn't forget that verbalizing is often wrought with trickiness. It is fine to 'text' a friend and 'spam' a stalker, but one certainly cannot post a link on another's Facebook page and say, "Hey! I've 'linked' you a funny video." Also, you can ''Google Search'' a long lost friend but you simply cannot ''Yahoo Search'' him. You may ''email," ''ping'' or ''WhatsApp'' him, but you possibly can't ''Facebook'' or ''LinkedIn'' him. And, do you realize that while you can ''lunch'' or ''dine'' with the consultant who ''head hunted'' you for your current role, you definitely cannot ''breakfast'' or ''coffee'' with him, if you so desire. Doesn't that get unpredictable?
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