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

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Thu Jun 6 16:52:40 UTC 2013


At 6/6/2013 08:41 AM, Arun K Raman wrote:
>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."

My leg in Spain pains only in the rain.

JSB


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

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



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