Pet peeve: When did the word 'teacher' become a verb?

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I have seen this a dozen times in the past few months.

 

"I teacher at the high school."

 

"I couldn't teacher my son and my daughter at the same time."

 

When, pray tell, did this usage enter the common parlance? What can we do about it? Where is Lynn Truss when we need her?

[6packofun]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I figured they were typos.

[Jennifer3141]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

 

Argh indeed. :D

[Joker]

I figured they were typos.

 

Me too. I didn't know anyone was doing it on purpose. :001_huh:

[katilac]

Have you heard it, or could it possibly be typos on message boards and emails? I'm hoping really, really hard that it's just typos. I haven't noticed it, and I've never heard it.

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I figured they were typos.

 

So did I, the first few times I saw it.

 

I was snooping on a ps teachers' forum and it was used repeatedly there. (My favorite example was the question, "There ain't no jobs in this city! Where am I sposed to teacher at?")

 

Now it has been used here often enough for me to notice.

[Jean in Newcastle]

So did I, the first few times I saw it.

 

I was snooping on a ps teachers' forum and it was used repeatedly there. (My favorite example was the question, "There ain't no jobs in this city! Where am I sposed to teacher at?")

 

Now it has been used here often enough for me to notice.

 

OK - that whole question is scary! :svengo:

 

I would be tempted to answer "I spose you'd better stay away from the grammer (sic) teacher jobs. They want people to teacher who actually know how to write."

[Crissy]

I would be tempted to answer "I spose you'd better stay away from the grammer (sic) teacher jobs. They want people to teacher who actually know how to write."

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[RanchGirl]

I figured they were typos.

 

:iagree: I really HOPE that's the case!

[elegantlion]

I have never heard that one. Not surprised however. Would it be really snotty to reply with a correction and a supporting sentence diagrammed?

 

I'm all for casual speak, but that ranks up there with prolly.

[funschooler5]

Wow, I've never heard that term before. It would drive me crazy! Even more than people using the word "seen" wrong. As in:

 

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Wow, I've never heard that term before. It would drive me crazy! Even more than people using the word "seen" wrong. As in:

 

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

 

:smilielol5:

[homeschoolmom]

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

 

Ack!!

[MrsMe]

Never heard it, thank God, but if this is yet another direction of our youth or adults speech, I cringe at the thought of what it'll be like in years to come.

[LibraryLover]

Typos?

 

If not, maybe for the same reasons hsing parents write 'alot', or 'your' for 'you are'? Just because you teach doesn't mean you can spell.

 

I don't like to keep track.

[RanchGirl]

Wow, I've never heard that term before. It would drive me crazy! Even more than people using the word "seen" wrong. As in:

 

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

:lol:

 

my personal peeve is starting a sentence with "being".

 

As in:

 

"Being as Mrs. Jones ain't teachering you to read, you might want to get a little homeskewlin'."

[kamom]

Wow, I've never heard that term before. It would drive me crazy! Even more than people using the word "seen" wrong. As in:

 

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

 

 

:lol::lol:

 

I had to LOL. We have a good friend who often uses "seen" like that. But not with teachering. That's a new one to me.

[Mejane]

Ew. Make it stop.

[gardening momma]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

 

Argh indeed. :D

This one drives me :willy_nilly:

[katilac]

:lol:

 

my personal peeve is starting a sentence with "being".

 

As in:

 

"Being as Mrs. Jones ain't teachering you to read, you might want to get a little homeskewlin'."

 

When my dd was about 9, she asked me why people started sentences by saying "beans." Huh?

 

"You know, Mom, like: Beans that Mrs Jones isn't teaching you to read, you might want to homeschool."

 

:lol::lol: ((sorry, I had to change that sentence before putting it into my baby's mouth))

[Dawn in OH]

Ew. Make it stop.

 

Yes, please make it stop.

 

I was reading a Facebook discussion the other day between some people I went to high school with. It was about public school teachers. Two of the people in the discussion were professional teachers. Their spelling, grammar, and sentence structure was worse than mine is even when I'm sleep deprived and in a zombie like state. But people without teaching degrees really shouldn't be allowed to homeschool. :001_huh:

[Random]

"I seen that lady teacher that kid to read."

 

 

:rofl:

[TXMary2]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

 

Doh! That one bothers me to no end! I always want to say, "You did not sale that book, you sold it!"

[sewingmama]

I have never come across it but if I did I would assume if it was written it was a typo or if it was spoken - lazy, bogan English. In fact I hate the sound of it so much I would prefer that they use "learn" as in "I seen that lady learn that kid to read".

Edited March 10, 2011 by sewingmama

[Sahamamama]

I have seen this a dozen times in the past few months.

 

"I teacher at the high school."

 

"I couldn't teacher my son and my daughter at the same time."

 

When, pray tell, did this usage enter the common parlance? What can we do about it? Where is Lynn Truss when we need her?

 

I haven't seen this, but when I do, I'll be sure to shoot it. Thanks for the warning. :glare: I agree, this is ridiculous. Someone needs to teacher that out of the American vocabulary.

[Stacie]

Yes, please make it stop.

 

I was reading a Facebook discussion the other day between some people I went to high school with. It was about public school teachers. Two of the people in the discussion were professional teachers. Their spelling, grammar, and sentence structure was worse than mine is even when I'm sleep deprived and in a zombie like state. But people without teachering degrees really shouldn't be allowed to homeschool. :001_huh:

 

 

Sorry, I had to correct that...

[Garga]

When, pray tell, did this usage enter the common parlance?

 

 

When you moved to an area in the country that uses this? :001_smile:

 

I've never heard it around here, but it sounds like it could be some sort of regional thing.

[katemary63]

Ew. Make it stop.

 

:lol:

[Ellie]

I was snooping on a ps teachers' forum and it was used repeatedly there. (My favorite example was the question, "There ain't no jobs in this city! Where am I sposed to teacher at?")

:svengo:

 

Now it has been used here often enough for me to notice.

Really? I haven't noticed that. Guess I'm not very observant. :tongue_smilie:

[lovemyboys]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

 

:huh: Say what?

 

Never heard of either of these .... and I'm glad for that. :tongue_smilie:

[happi duck]

Ick. :tongue_smilie:

[FlockOfSillies]

This sounds like something that could kill puppies.

[Halftime Hope]

is the regional usage that just drives me bonkers!

 

Say I mention to a neighborhood friend that I am going to the library later today. (Note the well-defined time frame--one time, this afternoon.) She might reply, "Whenever you go, would you mind returning my books, too."

From 19 years experience in this region, it is clear that people use whenever to mean one time.

 

I was taught that whenever implies an undefined, ongoing time frame: "Whenever you prepare food, please wash your hands first."

[gardening momma]

Probably around the same time that "sale" became a verb. Argh.

 

:huh: Say what?

 

Never heard of either of these .... and I'm glad for that. :tongue_smilie:

I have seen it on this board, too. Like-- "I am going to sale a book."

[swimmermom3]

:lol:

 

my personal peeve is starting a sentence with "being".

 

As in:

 

"Being as Mrs. Jones ain't teachering you to read, you might want to get a little homeskewlin'."

 

I am sorry. I am too busy chunking up sentences and impacting your future.

[Storm Bay]

Wow, this is the first time I've heard of it. Shocking! Of course, I was shocked the first time I heard impact as a verb, and that one still gets my goat every single time I hear it used as a verb (check dictionaries from 20+ years ago and you'll see what I mean.)

 

My dc are now using "piano teaching" as a verb, so I'm trying to rectify that. eg they'll say "Are you piano teaching today?" instead of "Are you teaching piano today?" They think it's funny, which doesn't help, so once in a while I'll say something like "I learned you real good grammar" which always get a laugh. I hear learned used in place of teach sometimes, IRL, and it's annoying, too.

[dakarimom5]

I think it might be regional. I have never heard teacher used that way before, but I have heard and seen these gems....

 

I axed him a question and he didn't answer right.

 

If you loose your coat look in the lost and found.

 

For Sale...chester drawers $50. My DH asked me why someone was selling Chester's drawers!!:lol:

[Sputterduck]

I'm jumping ship and giving up on English.

 

Au revoir.

[Celia]

I've never heard of sale or teacher used as verbs. Grammer certainly isn't my forte, but this would bother me as well! I'm sure things like this will bother me more once I start learning proper grammer rules along with my son! The sad thing is, I took English in university, passed with over 90%, and I've never in my life diagrammed a sentence!

 

That said, could someone please tell me if these are proper sentences:

 

This morning, the child was taken to hospital.

 

We took SkyTrain to get to the park.

 

Now, wouldn't hospital and SkyTrain require an article in front on them?

[Storm Bay]

That said, could someone please tell me if these are proper sentences:

 

This morning, the child was taken to hospital.

 

We took SkyTrain to get to the park.

 

Now, wouldn't hospital and SkyTrain require an article in front on them?

Yes, they would. Also, the actor is Kelsey Grammer, but we study grammar:). The first time I spelled grammar wrong was after I watched Frasier for a while, and so now I have to be careful.

[Melinda in VT]

I have seen this a dozen times in the past few months.

 

"I teacher at the high school."

 

"I couldn't teacher my son and my daughter at the same time."

 

When, pray tell, did this usage enter the common parlance? What can we do about it? Where is Lynn Truss when we need her?

 

I'm not seeing or hearing this usage. Are you hearing this used by native speakers of standard English?

[DawnM]

I have never seen this.....weird.

 

Dawn

[Sputterduck]

I've never heard of sale or teacher used as verbs. Grammer certainly isn't my forte, but this would bother me as well! I'm sure things like this will bother me more once I start learning proper grammer rules along with my son! The sad thing is, I took English in university, passed with over 90%, and I've never in my life diagrammed a sentence!

 

That said, could someone please tell me if these are proper sentences:

 

This morning, the child was taken to hospital.

 

We took SkyTrain to get to the park.

 

Now, wouldn't hospital and SkyTrain require an article in front on them?

 

With your hospital example, it depends on which country you're in. Several places where English is spoken, including England, don't put an article in front of hospital.

[mirth]

It may mean that these teachers no longer see teaching as their primary job function, and it is necessary to re-define themselves. It's sad, really, and not for grammatical reasons.

[gardening momma]

Wow, this is the first time I've heard of it. Shocking! Of course, I was shocked the first time I heard impact as a verb, and that one still gets my goat every single time I hear it used as a verb (check dictionaries from 20+ years ago and you'll see what I mean.)

I have a 1991 dictionary that lists "impact" as both a noun and a verb.

 

Noun--im'pakt

Verb--im-pakt'

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I'm not seeing or hearing this usage. Are you hearing this used by native speakers of standard English?

 

I have no idea. I've only seen it online. I'm glad that others aren't noticing this new error!

 

I'm sensitive to mistakes of this kind. I grew up in a very colloquial-rich environment, and now I live in a grammar-free zone. LOL I am always so nervous that one of our home sayings will fly out of my mouth just when I'm trying to give a good impression.

[Parrothead]

 

That said, could someone please tell me if these are proper sentences:

 

This morning, the child was taken to hospital.

 

We took SkyTrain to get to the park.

 

 

Yes, those are proper sentences in England, Australia and I imagine other places where the queen's English is spoken.

 

In England they go to hospital. They go to university.

 

Replace the SkyTrain with Amtrack. We wouldn't say, "We took an Amtrack to get to the park." Using a proper name does not require an article before it.

 

I'm starting to hear a lot of "at table" instead of "at the table". I'm not sure if I like it.

 

As for the teachering I'm sure after the second time, I'd have to attempt to gently correct that.

[phathui5]

Huh? Teacher is not a verb, teach is.

[Storm Bay]

With your hospital example, it depends on which country you're in. Several places where English is spoken, including England, don't put an article in front of hospital.

 

I have a 1991 dictionary that lists "impact" as both a noun and a verb.

 

Noun--im'pakt

Verb--im-pakt'

Really? Well then, I'm forgetting how old I am. I first heard it used as a verb in 1989 and even looked it up in my dictionary because I was so shocked. (It's an American one; there is no truly, 100 percent Canadian dictionary in print, although there is one online.) I know that it isn't listed that way in our 30 year old dictionaries (which may not be copywrited in the years they were bought.) Also, this use may have started in the US and then drifted up to Canada later than that.

 

ETA here's what I found at Dictionary.com:

"

The verb impact has developed the transitive sense ... Although recent, the new uses are entirely standard and most likely to occur in formal speech and writing. "http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impact

It has definitely developed during my lifetime, and I am aware that language changes. It doesn't mean that I have to embrace every lingusitic change;).

Edited March 10, 2011 by Karin