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| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
− | {{w|Part of speech|Parts of speech}} can be treated fluidly, in English and other languages. For example, "medalled" has been coined as a word meaning "gained a medal" in a sporting competition, implying the existence of the {{w|verb}} "to medal" meaning "to win a medal". This is a {{w|Trope (Literature)|literary trope}} called anthimeria, and is typically used by using a noun as a verb (or 'verbing a noun'). [[Megan]], in conversation with [[Cueball]], similarly creates new meanings from existing words: firstly, she uses the {{w|adjective}} "legit" (a slang abbreviation of "legitimate") as an {{w|adverb}} to mean "legitimately"; secondly, she uses the {{w|noun}} "adverb" as a verb meaning "to turn a non-adverb into an adverb"; and thirdly, she uses the {{w|noun phrase}} "language nerd" as an adjective. All three "verbs" after the first comma are used in the past tense. | + | {{Megan is telling Cueball that she used 'legit' as an adverb. By saying this - i.e. "I (...) adverbed"- shes using 'adverb' as a verb. In the beginning of the sentence she also used 'language nerd' as an adjective, which is why she's saying that she "adjectived" it.}} |
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− | Megan uses the words "verbed" and "adjectived" without any comment, implying that the acts of "verbing" the nouns "verb" and "adjective" are so natural and long-established that they are unremarkable (although the fact that "adjectived" came after "verbed" may also have something to do with the latter's non-mention), even if grammatical purists might decry such usage. An example of a change of parts of speech that is widely accepted is the {{w|gerund}}, which is nothing more than the use of a verb or verb-phrase as a noun; for instance, "I enjoy '''reading'''," and "the best thing for your health is '''not smoking'''".
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− | Added humor is gained by the self-referential nature of Megan's sentence. She uses fluid parts of speech, and also refers to that very same use, in one sentence.
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− | The title text, "Not to go all sentence fragment on you," is an implicitly self-referential sentence fragment, containing neither an explicit subject nor a predicate. It can be converted into a full sentence by rephrasing it something like, "I do not mean to go all sentence fragment on you, but..." It is also funnier because, as well as being ''self''-referential, it also refers to the main comic by adjectiving the noun-phrase "sentence fragment".
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| ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
− | | + | Megan: I don't mean to go all language nerd on you, but I just legit adverbed "legit", verbed "adverb" and adjectived "language nerd". |
− | [Megan and Cueball are standing together, presumably during a conversation]
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− | :Megan: I don't mean to go all language nerd on you, but I just legit adverbed "legit", verbed "adverb", and adjectived "language nerd".
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− | {{comic discussion}}
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− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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− | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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− | [[Category:Language]]
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