Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] New verb!

["Jonathan King" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On 6/2/07, Mark Rages <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> On 6/2/07, Jonathan King <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> > On 6/2/07, Mark Rages <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> > > On 6/2/07, Bryan Venable <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> > > > Flaw is in the dictionary as a verb.  To flaw something means to introduce a flaw
> > > > into it.
> > >
> > > Ah, why so it is.
> > >
> > > And it's not new at all:  m-w.com dates it to 1610.   Four centuries
> > > of use and it's still new to me.
> >
> > I think the transitive use of "flaw" is pretty rare, though.
> > Obviously, you have read things like "the process for picking the new
> > University president is flawed" where the verb is in the passive
> > voice. And based on the (current) meaning of the noun "flaw", the idea
> > of introducing flaws is a little bit weird.
>
> I'm an engineer and can barely communicate, but "flawed" is an
> adjective right?

It can be, but "flawed", the adjective comes from "flawed", the past
participle of (wait for it) "flaw". The distinction can be subtle, but
"flawed" can be used in a "full" passive clause:

The process was flawed by the ignorance of the selection panel.

And you can't do that with just any old adjective (compare
"inappropriate" or "dubious" or something else like that.

> > Now, the story would be a laugh riot except that it points up how
> > screwed MU seems to be. There is a pretty good reason why most major
> > university presidents do *not* come from the business world, but
> > evidently the Showme state wants to find out why.
>
> Oh come now, I'm sure anyone with experience making duct tape and
> trash bags would be an excellent university administrator.

I guess I didn't read that far in the story.

jking

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