And you thought verbing weirded language?

I know, I know. Historically, we're supposed to cringe at the verbing of nouns above all other such offenses. I think we'd be better advised to worry about excessive nouning, but for different -- and I hope less strictly peevish -- reasons.

"Turn a noun into a verb with the same enthusiasm you would apply in seeking a cut in salary" was the classic UPI Stylebook admonition, well before Calvin's memorable "Verbing weirds language." It's a fun way to sound like a hard-boiled grammar cop, regardless of whether you or anyone else on the force can get from the cop shop to the Krispy Kreme without verbing a noun or two along the way. As with the active voice, dental hygiene and the ideals of the Founding Fathers, the loudest peeving often comes from those who have trouble recognizing the real thing at better than chance levels.
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