Andy Antics

In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented Armond Perretta
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]"I have an unreasonably strong aversion to making verbs out of nouns likes 'parent' ... (for example) ... 'Parenting doesn't ... tell Andy that this example is not verbing a noun, or would some else like to inform him about gerunds?[/nq]
You can't gerund it unless

[nq:1]Armond Perretta broadcast ...[/nq]
[nq:2]"I have an unreasonably strong aversion to making verbs out ... or would some else like to inform him about gerunds?[/nq]
[nq:1]You can't gerund it unless you verbed it first.[/nq]
In this example, yes. In the general case, no. I read Andy's complaint as being against verbing "parent." I happen to agree that it's somewhat awkward. Yet Andy

[nq:2]Armond Perretta broadcast ... You can't gerund it unless you verbed it first.[/nq]
[nq:1]In this example, yes. In the general case, no. I read Andy's complaintas being against verbing "parent." I happen to agree that it's somewhat awkward. Yet Andy used the noun form as his example while complainingabout verbs, and that's what I'm ******** about.[/nq]
nuttah
Adrian

[nq:2]"I have an unreasonably strong aversion to making verbs out ... or would some else like to inform him about gerunds?[/nq]
[nq:1]You can't gerund it unless you verbed it first.[/nq]
'Parent' has been a verb since C17.

John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

[nq:2]Armond Perretta broadcast ... You can't gerund it unless you verbed it first.[/nq]
[nq:1]In this example, yes. In the general case, no. I read Andy's complaint as being against verbing "parent." I happen to agree that it's somewhat awkward. Yet Andy used the noun form as his example while complaining about verbs, and that's what I'm ******** about.[/nq]
A gerund is a verbal, and that

[nq:2]In this example, yes. In the general case, no. I ... while complaining about verbs, and that's what I'm ******** about.[/nq]
[nq:1]A gerund is a verbal, and that's what Andy obviously meant, and I think everybody understood the point, so Andy's wording was effective and unexceptionable.[/nq]
Below are a few definitions selected entirely at random for "gerund." In all cases it is defi

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But not continuously, in these parts.
Does the OED have a way of recording when a word has periods of use and un-use?
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

Armond quoted:
[nq:1]ger·und ( P ) Pronunciation Key (jrnd) n. 1.. In Latin, a noun derived from a verb and having all case forms except the nominative.[/nq]
But in the singular only.

[nq:1]> But not continuously, in these parts. Does the OED have a way of recording when a word has periods of use and un-use?[/nq]
Do you have a special way of knowing whether a word is used 'continuously' or not over a 400-year period?

John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

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For that word it was easy to tell in the negative. "Parent" was not used as a verb in real life 20 or 30 years ago and going backwards some number of decades. We (I, Andy Rooney, and a cast of thousands) would have noticed. We did notice the change.
As for the OED, they keep track of references, so they could notice a gap. They could also tell their audience (and may