"On", "Off", and "Pain" as verbs

Arun K Raman arunkr.shivers at GMAIL.COM
Thu Jun 6 12:41:04 UTC 2013


On, Off, and Pain are all used as verbs in different Middle Eastern and
South Asian Englishes. In India you will see uses such as "On the light",
"Off the switch" "My leg pains" When did your leg last pain?" "It pained
last night."

You do see some use of Pain as a verb in American and British English but
it's not very common and mostly used as part of idoms.

Is this common across other Englishes as well when it comes up with in
relation to the above words or other words that are usually not verbs in
AE/BE?
-
Arun K Raman

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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