One of Pete Buttigieg’s funny lines in the 2020 Democratic primaries was that, in such a crowded field, “I’m pretty sure, at least, that I have the gay Maltese-American ex-mayor Navy vet lane all to myself.”
I think it might be an example of doubling a final consonant in verbs, which was mentioned up-thread.
“Dox” and “vax” are nouns; “doxxing” and “vaxxing” are the verbs.
Mostly it is, but traditionally, X is not doubled when inflecting verbs. For example, tax is inflected as taxed and taxing and similarly for mix. But I also note that M-W is inconsistent. Thay have doxx as a variant of dox while the main spelling of the other is vaxx, with vax as a variant. That applies to both noun and verb.
“Doxxed” and “vaxxed” are the verbs. “Doxxing” and “vaxxing” are gerunds.
Definition of a gerund: every word ending in “ing” that has more than one syllable.
Let the nitpicking (gerund) begin!
That’s a f(participle)ing stupid definition.†
†Actually it’s not that bad, but needs some tweaking. (gerund)
Nope. Gerunds have to act as nouns. In “he has been doxxing his opponents” , “doxxing” is not a gerund.
It of course depends entirely on the sentence. “He has engaged in doxxing” makes it a gerund.
Most gerunds can be used as other parts of speech depending on the context they appear in. That’s why formal grammars are thicker than phone books.
It sure does. That’s not what you wrote, though. Try “interesting” for your gerund definition.Ends in -ing? Yep. More than two syllables? Yep. Not a gerund. I’m not even sure I could think of a case in where it can be used as one.
You asked for nit-picks (basically) and I gave you one. Well, it’s not even a nit-pick, because the definition isn’t even close to being right. Had you written “noun” instead of “word,” it would be much closer (but, see: “everything.”)
‘The ultimate enemy is women’ – inside the fear-filled world of incels | Television | The Guardian
Posted here because of this:
Consistently throughout the making of the documentary, I found myself speechless. Like when I found out incels were hammering their own faces to try to rearrange their jawlines in a process called “looksmaxxing”.
The peculiarities of the English language aside, that concept is exceptionally weird.
I am delighted such a word exists, in a kind of Orwellian “newspeak” way, but not so impressed by the behaviour it describes.
Man, a quick scan and I read that as “hammering their own feces,” which I’m still trying to decide if that’s better or worse than the original. It’s certainly a more amusing mental image.
I’m a pest.
Bank employee is looking at your balance sheet and adds 1% to your savings account. Why? The employee is interesting your funds.
Forget I was here. 
I’m not sure I buy that one, but it does occur to me that “that book is interesting John” would be valid and not require contorting. (And I did hedge with “I’m not sure.” 
)
Nah, I was just being comical. ISTM the last five to ten years have seen an increase in young folks taking nouns and making bad verbs of them, and of course I can’t think of any examples at the moment. Maybe after I’ve had lunch. Stay tuned.
I was being comical too.
Seeing an “ing” isn’t a positive test for gerunds, but it’s a good rule of thumb if you’re not sure how it functions. Not that anyone has a need for that more than once a decade. Or century.
Ing words that never can be a gerund exist. All the variations of thing, e.g.: anything, something, nothing. Words that form from the diminutive “ling”: yearling, fingerling, halfling. Wainscoting and wiring are almost always nouns and so is stirling in the UK. During. Evening.
Anybody bringing up gerundives will be subject to incessant telemarking during Thanksgiving.
Oddly enough I see that usage as a gerund. That is to say it is a noun form used attributively. When a noun is used to modify a noun (e.g. water meter) that usage is called attributive. And the modifying noun is normally stressed, whereas a modifying adjective is normally unstressed. In your sentence, I would say, “The book is interesting john.” But, “It is an interesting book.” is certainly an adjectival usage.
But it’s not a noun usage. The verb is “to interest.” That interests John. (present simple) That is interesting John. (present continuous). That is interesting. (adjective.)