- This topic has 28 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 11 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.
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is entirely optional!
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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