He commited a painting.

Question

Hello.Can we say in English the sentence below?He commited a painting.In my native language we (informally) say something like this when we want to express the idea that somebody made something that is either outside his profession or he is not particularly good at it. So, the sample context would be like this:You know Tom, he is a taxi driver but he likes to take up new activities. Can you believe that last time he made/painted a painting?And in the sentence above I would informally use word 'commit' in my native language. Can we do this in English?

Dokterjokkebrok · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Maybe He's committed to painting or He's committed himself to painting (now)., as in He's devoted to the art of painting, or committed to making a painting, meaning that He is working on a painting, but I don't think many people would say or write to commit a painting.

DJB

Reegis · Answer

Yes, I am aware of this usage of word 'commit', but please note that its meaning is different to the one I described. Mine is quite similar to, for example, this usage:
He commited a crime.

Just not so negative:
He commited a painting/poem/novel.

Maybe word 'perpetrate' would be proper in such context?

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

Could it be that you meant to commission rather than committed?

DJB

Reegis · Answer

Nope, 'to commission' does not (as far as I know) mean 'to express the idea that somebody made something that is either outside his profession or he is not particularly good at it'.

Perhaps this confusion is because in English we just do not say 'He commited a paining' to convey the meaning above... And this would be the answer to my question.

[edit]
But maybe I am close... I have just found in my English-Polish dictionary:

perpetrate /'p?pitreit/ vt popelni|c, -ac [crime, deed, folly]; dopu|scic, -szczac sie (czegos) [atrocities, violence]; hum popelni|c, -ac, s|plodzic hum [novel, poem]; to perpetrate a hoax on sb nabrac kogos

Obviously you don't understand what the Polish words above mean, but they suggest that we can say:

He perpetrated a novel/poem.

Can't we?

Mister Micawber · Answer

You cannot 'commit' a painting or 'perpetrate' a work of art. Both verbs refer to crimes.

Reegis · Answer

I googled it further and found this:

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/perpetrate

to present, execute, or do in a poor or tasteless manner:

Who perpetrated this so-called comedy?

So it seems that although 'commit' was a bad choice, I might be on the right track after discovering word 'perpetrate'...

What do you think about the entry above from dictionary.com?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

He dabbled at painting in his spare moments.

Clive · Answer

We very commonly say simply this.
eg He wrote a novel.
eg He painted a picture.

Reegis · Answer

AlpheccaStarsHe dabbled at painting in his spare moments.

Does it imply that he finished at least one his work or that he is just working on it?

CliveWe very commonly say simply this.eg He wrote a novel.eg He painted a picture.

Yeah, but isn't it just a neutral statement of this fact? What I was looking for was this:

Reegisexpress the idea that somebody made something that is either outside his profession or he is not particularly good at it

For example, the above example from the dictionary says:
Who perpetrated this so-called comedy?
And I think it sounds quite different than simply asking:
Who created this comedy?

So, after many fruitful posts that have been written in this thread, my question comes down to:
Can we say "He perpetrated a painting/novel" to indicate that he made this as an amateur and the result might not be so good?

Clive · Answer

You can say that, but it needs to be in a context that helps the listener to understand your meaning.
If you just walk into a room and say 'Fred has perpetrated a painting', people will ask you for clarification.

He commited a painting.

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