"English" -- a verb (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 03:50:51PM -0400, Wilson Gray wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 3:08 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> > "Lori Pieper, the head translator for the Conjuring Arts Research Center in New York, _Englished_ this information from the German, so that Matsuyama could evaluate it and incorporate it into his article."
>
>
> "Bishop Beaufort, you're a learned man. _English_ me this."
> Anne Jackson Fremantle - 1948
>
> In context, Ms. Jackson Fremantle's use means "explain [this to me]"
> and not "translate this into English."

OED has _English_ v. 'to translate into English' from the 15th century,
and 'to transform into plain English; to describe in plain terms' from
1616 to 1942 ("Now rare").

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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