To be or not to be? That remaining the question, the answer increasingly clear. The verb “to be” dying out, and the culprit? None other than TV news channels. Taking the place of such cherished words as “is,” “are,” “am,” even “were” and “was”: a new verb form that you might call the one-size-fits-all past, present, and future participle. Or you might call it the one-size-fits-all past, present, and future gerund. One of these right and one of them wrong, but which which? Nobody really knowing the difference between a participle and a gerund. Anyone claiming to understand the distinction probably bluffing. So calling it what you wish: Either label doing.
Michael Kinsley, “Is Disappearing: What TV news doing to our precious verbs”, Slate, 2001-11-01
January 7, 2012
QotD: Is Disappearing
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This QotD entry was triggered from a series of Tweets from Andrew Coyne:
Has anyone got a copy of that column Michael Kinsley did, written entirely in Newscaster Participle: “News breaking at this hour…”
It had a headline something like “What TV news doing to our language”
Is Disappearing: What TV news doing to our precious verbs http://slate.me/wFQYXL Thanks to @Nicki_Doyle
Comment by Nicholas — January 7, 2012 @ 12:37