Yesterday I said to The Man,
"Stop yawning me!"
And then I corrected myself.
"I mean, stop making me yawn!"
But actually, it seems to me that yawn SHOULD be a transitive verb. After all, yawns are transitive, aren't they?
Monday, November 03, 2008
Yawn
Posted by Badaunt at 9:53 pm 3 comments
Labels: language, miscellaneous
3 comments:
"yawn SHOULD be a transitive verb"
Makes sense: since (o dear) "bore" certainly is (transitive)...
That's an excellent point. I agree totally.
It reminds me of studies that have been done to see whether small children understand transitivity. Typically they are given sentences using verbs that AREN'T transitive, so that you can see whether they correctly extend the pattern they have heard with other verbs.
One I saw reported at a conference showed pictures of Big Bird and Cookie Monster doing things with weights, and got children to match them with the appropriate sentences:
"Big Bird is flexing."
"Big Bird is flexing Cookie Monster."
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