I am a hug and I am hugging you
VERBIFY to be a better person, plus an A++ cake
Bonjour-Bonjour,
When Iâm wearing my teacher/editor hat I sing out to my clients, âPay attention to the verbs! Make them unique, make them inventive, donât be fearful of quirk!â Verbs enliven a text, and verbs enliven our lives.
Hence Iâve been thinking about verbification. Nouns transformed into verbs through a sort of linguistic metallurgy, otherwise known as denominalization. If you canât find an existing verb to describe what youâre doing, or what you would like to do, or you want to find a more interesting way to say it, simply verbify the nearest noun.
Hiding in the living room with the shades drawn? Youâre couching. Feeling too tired to take the stairs, maybe youâre escalatoring. Donât feel like cooking? Donât feel like going to a restaurant? Maybe youâre doordashing. Got a troubling test result and spending time on Dr. Google, flashing forward to a health disaster⊠maybe you are angsting.
Hereâs a few that are more mainstream:
gifting
lunching
spooning
cheffing
Other examples: Beer me, we might say when we want another. (I prefer waffle me on a Sunday morning.) King me we proclaim when we make it across the chessboard (I prefer Queen Me, as in this poem from Kelli Russell Agodon.) Letâs coffee together, we might say to a friend we see at our fav coffee spot. We all know netflix-and-chill is the verb for a night in. Which has come full circle. Netflix - itâs a noun, itâs a verb, itâs an ice cream name!
We heart things. We troll (well, I donât but some do). When our kids were small they asked to be sandwichedâhugged between me and their dad.
So how can verbifcation enrich our lives?
Sunday Jewels are a benefit for paid subscribers. Paid subscribers also may participate in our r.w.e. book groups. We meet one Sunday per month and weâre a lively bunch. Authors often join! Weâve had Patrick Ryan, Heather Aimee OâNeill, Kelli Russell Agodon, and this summer Beth Ann Fennelly will spend a morning with us!
Thank you in advance for sharing your love! As a bonus just now I have 1 copy of my book SHOUT HER LOVELY NAME, a NYTs notable book, to send to an annual subscriber! Simply sign up and Iâll reach out for your address.
Also, I have one beautiful petite notebook I picked up in Paris this spring to send to a new annual subscriber.
