Basic English.
Hello teachers,
Are these correct?
"He is a great talent."
"I don't want to miss out on a talent like him."
Thank you.
Top answer
This use of the noun "talent" to mean a person of great ability in a field seems to have arisen in the late twentieth century. It is a useful extension of the word, but it still strikes some of us as ever-so-slightly slangy. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it without comment, and so does the Oxford English Dictionary , which however shows no citation for this precise sense before one from Rolling Stone in 1977.
- This use of the noun "talent" to mean a person of great ability in a field seems to have arisen in the late twentieth century.
- It is a useful extension of the word, but it still strikes some of us as ever-so-slightly slangy.
- The American Heritage Dictionary defines it without comment, and so does the Oxford English Dictionary , which however shows no citation for this precise sense before one from Rolling Stone in 1977.
- I say go ahead and use it.
- It has a place in the language, and it seems to have gained full acceptance.
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This use of the noun "talent" to mean a person of great ability in a field seems to have arisen in the late twentieth century. It is a useful extension of the word, but it still strikes some of us as ever-so-slightly slangy. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it without comment, and so does the Oxford English Dictionary, which however shows no citation for this precise sens
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