- This topic has 28 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by
Patrice.
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01/08/2018 at 20:10 #96098
vexillia
ParticipantDo you:
- Play games because you are old enough to have been taught that game is mainly a noun or an adjective not a verb?
- Game because you also play, or played, computer games?
- Game because that’s what all the cool kids say?
- Game because play is what children do and you’re just a touch embarrassed?
- Game because your wife/partner insists on using play as a gentle wind-up?
Discuss.
01/08/2018 at 20:25 #96099Guy Farrish
ParticipantI play games because I was brought up speaking British (English) English and that’s what we did. And I still do.
01/08/2018 at 20:25 #96100Not Connard Sage
ParticipantWhatever it is I do with toy soldiers is unencumbered by semantics.
Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.
01/08/2018 at 20:27 #96101kyoteblue
ParticipantI use both.
01/08/2018 at 20:36 #96105Mike
Keymaster01/08/2018 at 21:30 #96107Ruarigh
ParticipantI both play and game according to my whim, because I know that both forms have been used in English since the medieval period, even in the same sentence: c1300 Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) l. 31 (MED) ‘Hi..pleide and gamenede ehc wiþ oþer’.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
01/08/2018 at 22:06 #96109Darkest Star Games
ParticipantI play games. If I am going to go play games with my friends then I am going to game. When I play games with my friends I am gaming.
"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."
01/08/2018 at 22:43 #96114Alan Hamilton
ParticipantI play games.
I eat game.
01/08/2018 at 23:17 #96117irishserb
ParticipantDarkest Star games pretty much said it for me.
01/08/2018 at 23:39 #96122Autodidact-O-Saurus
ParticipantI play games. Just doesn’t seem correct to use it as a verb.
Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/02/08/2018 at 00:38 #96125grizzlymc
ParticipantI play games with toy soldiers, because I like doing it.
02/08/2018 at 07:27 #96127MartinR
ParticipantI play games, but I might describe myself as a gamer, rather than a player of games (which is a rather fine Ian M Banks novel).
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke
02/08/2018 at 09:19 #96131Etranger
ParticipantI play games, but I might describe myself as a gamer, rather than a player of games (which is a rather fine Ian M Banks novel).
Azad! Now there was a hard core games system…
02/08/2018 at 10:07 #96132Tony Hughes
ParticipantCertainly ‘game’ is a verb (hence gaming) and used mainly to refer to gambling in the more recent past (e.g. a gaming club). It is one of those words that is associated with a pleasurable activity and has many meanings within that scope as noun, adjective, verb or even adverb (she sported gamely).
English is rife with such words, why should it be a surprise. Considering what current writers do with the language, why does anybody care ?
02/08/2018 at 10:20 #96133vexillia
ParticipantCertainly ‘game’ is a verb (hence gaming) and used mainly to refer to gambling in the more recent past (e.g. a gaming club).
I’d just like to point out that the “gaming” in “gaming club” is not a verb as it describes the type of club.
02/08/2018 at 10:36 #96135Mike
Keymasterwhy does anybody care ?
Were this a wording website mayhaps I would, but it is not, so I don’t.
Maybe I could run a poll…02/08/2018 at 14:16 #96146willz
ParticipantI would say I mainly lose games, rather than play them
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02/08/2018 at 15:23 #96147Ruarigh
ParticipantCertainly ‘game’ is a verb (hence gaming) and used mainly to refer to gambling in the more recent past (e.g. a gaming club).
I’d just like to point out that the “gaming” in “gaming club” is not a verb as it describes the type of club.
Most people I know would refer to it as a ‘games club’ rather than a ‘gaming club’. The latter sounds a little off in my ears, or perhaps more like a gambling establishment, but I guess it’s a variant that is in use.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
02/08/2018 at 15:50 #96148Patrice
ParticipantFascinating thread!
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/02/08/2018 at 17:00 #96157Who Asked This Joker
ParticipantI play. I game. What I do or use really depends on what comes out of my brain first. Oddly, I seem to do the same thing no matter what I call it.
John
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
--Abraham Lincoln
02/08/2018 at 19:57 #96164Private Snafu
ParticipantI go phew, phew, phew….
___________________
http://moveshootassault.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/site/miniaturemachinations02/08/2018 at 20:19 #96165Mike Headden
ParticipantI play the game but game the system.
There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data
02/08/2018 at 22:26 #96173deephorse
Participant“Play games because you are old enough to have been taught that game is mainly a noun or an adjectivenot a verb?”
This.
I am old, I am British, and I have no problem with telling people that I play games.
Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen
03/08/2018 at 01:55 #96175irishserb
ParticipantGame – to play for stake or prize.
03/08/2018 at 06:57 #96180MartinR
ParticipantI suspect some this is down to inevitable transatlantic misunderstandings. There seems to have been a upsurge in nouns being turned into verbs (when on earth did holiday become a verb?), so I’ll stick to playing games.
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke
03/08/2018 at 08:53 #96183Ruarigh
ParticipantI suspect some this is down to inevitable transatlantic misunderstandings. There seems to have been a upsurge in nouns being turned into verbs (when on earth did holiday become a verb?), so I’ll stick to playing games.
The use of ‘game’ as a verb is not a part of this modern fashion for verbing. As I noted in my first post, ‘game’ has been a verb in English since the medieval period. It’s just that it is not that common in modern English and is mainly a regional usage now (according to the OED). What interests me is that ‘to game’ meaning ‘to manipulate a situation to one’s advantage’ is a US borrowing. I had not realised that before.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
03/08/2018 at 09:39 #96194Tony Hughes
ParticipantA gaming club was (and probably still is) a place where members went to gamble (or to game – as older usage would have it), totally different to a games club. I accept that this can be considered an adjective formed from the verb – not an uncommon feature of the torturous grammar of English. If described as ‘a club for gaming’ it would restore its original sense.
Maybe this is like ‘primering’ – words made up because the one who started the trend was ignorant of even basic English and the rest followed like sheep.
05/08/2018 at 19:23 #96284Cerdic
ParticipantWhen game is used as a verb it is usually in a gambling context.
I would normally HAVE a game when wargaming. Maybe I’m a bit odd?
(according to the missus there is no maybe about it…)
05/08/2018 at 21:13 #96289Patrice
ParticipantAs a non-native English speaker I sometimes wrote “game table” in AARs (at random, with a vague feeling of incorrectness) but some answers I received suggested that “gaming table” is better.
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/ -
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