[Ads-l] recycle as an intransitive verb

Benjamin Barrett mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM
Mon Apr 4 15:37:09 UTC 2016


> On 4 Apr 2016, at 04:17, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 4:51 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> 
>> I just got into trouble with a client because Merriam-Webster (
>> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recycle) says that the
>> intransitive uses of “recycle” do not include “recycle waste.” The Oxford
>> Dictionary site (
>> http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/recycle)
>> and Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/recycle) agree.
>> 
>> I have no trouble with saying “I don’t recycle” and the internet is filled
>> with examples.
> 
> 
> OED3 includes intransitive examples with that sense back to 1971, including
> the old mantra, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”

Thank you! I found a way out that will probably hold, but will refer them to this if they don’t like it :) BB
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