
The verbification of America is a potentially endless trend.
The TSA screener at the airport asks, “May I random you?”
Too hastily, I say: “Not if it’s a verb. But you may choose me at random and scan my body.”
While we all face the need to create new words sometimes, in many cases we should increase our vocabulary and rely on words that already exist. Here are some I have noticed of late.
| Verbification | Ridiculous usage | Traditional words |
| to administrate | We will hire someone to administrate the project. | We will hire a new administrator. |
| to architect | The firm architected the bridge. | The firm designed the bridge. |
| to calendar | Let’s calendar a time to meet. | Can we talk Thursday at 10? |
| to candidate | Our church is looking for a new pastor. The man from Cleveland is candidating this weekend. | The man from Cleveland will lead church services this weekend. |
| to collocate | Your company and mine will collocate. | We’ll buy adjacent properties. |
| to comp | The hotel will comp you for one night if you write about them. | The hotel will offer you one free night if you write about them. |
| to consent | When the admissions office consents the patient, it requires signatures on 4 forms. | When the admissions office asks the patient to sign consent forms, it requires 4 signatures. |
| to conversate | The executives met to conversate about the merger. | The executives met to discuss the merger. |
| to expense | Don’t worry about today’s lunch. I’ll expense it. | I’ll list it on my expense account. |
| to incent to incentivize | We must incent the sales force to work harder. | We must inspire/ entice/motivate the sales force. |
| to liaise | Let’s get your people to liaise with my people. | Let’s get our people to form a liaison. |
| to offshore | They offshored their labeling operation. | They sent their labeling operation overseas. |
| to outdate | Only 2 percent of blood outdates before it can be used. | Only 2 percent of blood becomes outdated before it is used. |
| to source | The grocery store has to find new ways to source its produce. | The store is looking for local sources. |
| to task | The new orchestra director is tasked with building young audiences. | The director must help develop young audiences. |
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