[Ads-l] Phrase: due-diligenced to death

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The company Honey which makes a browser extension for electronic
coupons recently was acquired by PayPal for $4 billion. An article at
Business Insider pointed to a tweet by a venture capitalist who had
invested in Honey.

I noticed that the tweet contained the word “diligencing” apparently
derived from more common phrases such as "perform due diligence" or
"conduct due diligence".  "due diligence" has been converted into a
verb, and the word "due" is sometimes excised.

The topic was discussed in 2016 at the English StackExchange website
under the title: Can “diligence” be used as a verb?
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/339874/can-diligence-be-used-as-a-verb

One discussion participant located a 2005 citation with a pertinent
instance of the verb form. The participant also noted earlier examples
with a different sense.

Below is the tweet about the Honey acquisition followed by a citation
from 1991 with the phrase "due-diligenced to death".

Tweet from: Brett deMarrais @BrettdeM
Timestamp: 5:08 PM  Nov 20, 2019
Accessed on twitter on Nov 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/BrettdeM/status/1197275449229029377?s=20

[Begin tweet]
This photo is the moment after @jtriest and I agreed to invest in the
seed round after “diligencing” @honey on a walk around the block.
Jonathon asked for this photo and half jokingly said “I’ll save this
for when you sell for billions”.
[End tweet]

Date: January 8, 1996
Newspaper: Star Tribune
Newspaper Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Article: Quantech edges closer to market
Author: Dick Youngblood
Quote Page D2, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/image/179961541/

[Begin excerpt]
Despite Shaw's intermittent financial problems, the exciting potential
has attracted an investor list that includes the Kaufman and American
Heritage funds in New York and the Okabena Co., which manages the
Dayton family fortune in Minneapolis.

"Let me assure you, we've been due-diligenced to death," said Shaw,
whose financing efforts have included a $1.5 million public offering
in 1992, in addition to numerous private placements.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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