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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Verified account
@sapinker

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Steven PinkerVerified account

@sapinker

Cognitive scientist at Harvard.

Boston, MA
pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Joined January 2010

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    Steven Pinker‏Verified account @sapinker 8 Nov 2015

    U got a problem w verbs fm nouns (parent, impact)? English has dozens fm animal names alone (wolf, quail, ram, buck) http://goo.gl/iT08eh 

    10:26 AM - 8 Nov 2015
    • 28 Retweets
    • 50 Likes
    • Jon Hagan fermincp Logopedista AVT Anna Mostetschnig timsavas Keith Lehman Prof Michelle Ryan Raj Telhan Miranda
    15 replies 28 retweets 50 likes
      1. Maggie Downie‏ @MaggieDownie 13 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        Problem arises wth vbs like impact wch hve gone vb->noun &back to vb, with completely a different meaning! @sapinker @MiriamFein

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Greg Hunt‏ @gregdhunt 10 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I hate it when people verb nouns, especially when they tweet. Such people should be disciplined, hounded and then fired.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. kcz‏ @kcz100 9 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Commenters here: language evolves (yawn), which may erode your status as self-proclaimed arbiters of exactitude. Boo hoo.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Nicholas SCARE-itz  🍞 🌹 🌹‏ @stringquintet 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker Also "contact" and "influence," among many others.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Dan shore‏ @yuca_dan 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker worm

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      1. Maggie Atkinson‏ @matkinson956 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Is a feature of the cutting edge of language evolution & change, noun-verb shifting, I was taught. English lives. So it changes.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Peter Donaldson‏ @PDWriter 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I don't like verbs from nouns from verbs - to leverage, for example. Not sure why, perhaps because original is elegant, sufficient

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. MaryW‏ @MaryWakefield 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker concrete nouns into verbs much better -- they make an action clear & colourful. Abstract nouns into verbs make brain fog

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Alan Davis: “I’ve said too much already.”‏ @AlanJDavis416 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker But why gift a gift u can give? What's a neg. impact look like - mound vs crater? Verbing nouns often yuck.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. New conversation
      2. Jay Swan‏ @sanjuanswan 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I dislike impact bc it replaces the specific "to smash together" w/ the general "to affect in any way".

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. Maggie Downie‏ @MaggieDownie 13 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sanjuanswan

        Oringinally meant 'to press down tightly/firmly'; think 'impacted bowel' ;-) @sanjuanswan @sapinker

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      4. Jay Swan‏ @sanjuanswan 14 Nov 2015
        Replying to @MaggieDownie

        @MaggieDownie I actually use that very phrase to try to convince my friends in sales to not use it, but doing so hasn't worked thus far. :-)

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      5. Maggie Downie‏ @MaggieDownie 14 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sanjuanswan

        @sanjuanswan I think it's because they don't know how to use effect and affect correctly.. (I have a problem with convince/persuade, too😉 )

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      6. End of conversation
      1. Warren Lockhart‏ @LockhartWarren 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker It's pretentious business words (like "action") which irritate. It's important to make a distinction.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. (((William Funk)))‏ @wmfunk2848 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Keep these tweets coming and we will hoover them up.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Brendan Furey‏ @BrenPatF 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker swan.

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      1. Netterville‏ @Netterville 8 Nov 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker The animal words add poetic flavour. The other verbs from nouns are generally found in jargon-filled prose.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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