Nouns as Verbs?

This week Polly Schattel posted the following on Facebook: "Nouns turned into verbs joist me."

I replied, "I mirror your sentiment."

I decided to look up the issue in an old book for writers, The Careful Writer, by Theodore M. Bernstein, 1965, Atheneum Press. On page 299 is the article, "Nouns As Verbs."

The article begins with three examples: author a book, chair a meeting, contact a friend.

Can nouns be acceptable as verbs? Bernstein points to research by Donald W. Lee ("Functional Change," Word Study, 1950) to the effect that nouns have been substituted as verbs in the English language since the 1200's. Scholars estimate that about three nouns morphed into verbs every two years, but by the 1600's this trend had accelerated to eight per year.

Bernstein seems to believe that some noun-as-verb substitutions are legitimate and some are not. He mentions some distasteful examples. People who elevator themselves up into penthouses. Those who get dinner-jacketed or go out theatering. On the one hand, he sees that there is a need for noun transformations to "succinctly express new situations or to express old situations that otherwise require the expenditure of too much verbal effort."

He suggests that writers use the test of necessity. Is it necessary or does it add value to say "the ship was crewed" or to simply use manned?

You might also consider whether the particular noun-as-verb you are considering has come into common or at least not uncommon usage.

In the end, Bernstein feels that language must change with time, but it should change slowly and needfully.

If you really want to birth new noun-verbs, then verb away!