Noun: The Gerunding

Updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Source: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/

Today's Irregular Webcomic:

According to CGEL, that should be "Noun: the Gerund-participling".

[Hat tip: Paul Bickart]

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Showing 22 relevant reactions out of 28.

moa1729 2 months, 3 weeks ago on Twitter

hahaha. I thought this was hilarious. of course, i'm a total dork. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1864

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strixus 3 months ago on Twitter

Noun: the Gerund-participling http://bit.ly/2Bw3ZR

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cimness 3 months ago on Twitter

Language Log » Noun: The Gerunding http://bit.ly/1M3Rie

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Eli Morris-Heft 3 months ago on Wordpress

This is actually well-known and already recognized as a titling scheme amongst us White Wolf players. (Almost all of White Wolf's games are labeled thus: Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Reckoning, Mage: The Ascension, I could go on for about 15 more…)

It's commonly referred to amongst us as Creature: The Evocative Noun. (As in: "Hey, what's White Wolf's next Creature: The Evocative
... See all content

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masterofwow 3 months ago on Twitter

Language Log » Noun: The Gerunding http://ow.ly/15ZSee

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MagicCardGame 3 months ago on Twitter

Language Log » Noun: The Gerunding http://ow.ly/15ZSed

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dr pepper 3 months ago on Wordpress

Some years back i was at my flgs (friendly local game store) reading the schedule board. At the top of the board someone had written:

Game: The Subtitle.

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Trent 3 months ago on Wordpress

I would think a Language Logger is heady brew.

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John Lawler 3 months ago on Wordpress

Which brings up the empirical question:

Does a Language Logger stir his coffee with his tongue?

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Alex 3 months ago on Wordpress

Aren't they just trying to describe the word usage in these game titles? So shouldn't it be "Noun: the Gerund"?

Also, I have another:

"Language: the logging".

:)

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nemryn 3 months ago on Wordpress

Once again, verbing weirds language.

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Mihai Pomarlan 3 months ago on Wordpress

Not to mention that the comic ticks off "noun-verbing", a peeve against which was commented upon here, and invents(?) gerunding for us lovers of hot grammar action.

J. Goard, that was off-topic but those are my sentiments too. Apart from "It hits the fan" and the n-guy episode, that's the most linguistically-interested episode of SP ever.

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uberVU - social comments 3 months ago on Wordpress

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by fleela: Noun: The Gerunding http://bit.ly/2TdzCd...

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J. Goard 3 months ago on Wordpress

Check out the new South Park, you guys…

It's repetitive and IMHO a bit boring overall, but the way semantic shift plays itself out in the school assembly is classic.

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StanCarey 3 months ago on Twitter

Noun: the Gerund-participling: http://bit.ly/GRhIh (at @LanguageLog)

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Jonathan Badger 3 months ago on Wordpress

Actually, the gerund version is actually a mutation from the original White Wolf snowclone — it was originally just 'Noun: The Noun" — as in "Vampire: The Masquerade", While "Magic: The Gathering" (actually a Wizards of the Coast and not a White Wolf product) was probably the first to use the gerund form, it has spread back to White Wolf, as shown in titles like "Hunter: The Reckoning" ... See all content

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ruzuzu 3 months ago on Twitter

Cool, @languagelog. I loved "Noun: the Gerund-participling".... http://bit.ly/3X1MHu

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meetapossum 3 months ago on Twitter

lol, nerd jokes: http://bit.ly/2Bw3ZR

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Benjamin Zimmer 3 months ago on Wordpress

And Magic was parodied as Havic: The Bothering.

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languagelog 3 months ago on Twitter

Noun: The Gerunding: Today's Irregular Webcomic:

According to CGEL, that should be "Noun: the Gerund-participling".... http://bit.ly/3X1MHu

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interests 3 months ago on Twitter

Language Log: Noun: The Gerunding http://bit.ly/3X1MHu

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Hala 3 months ago on Wordpress

Well…the fact that all of them are made by the same company (except Magic) probably has something to do with it.

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