# Invite as a Noun
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 1, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047 "2010-11-01T03:40:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/1 "2010-11-01T03:40:31Z")
Excuse me if this has come up before but is it my perception or is the transitive verb ‘invite’ being used increasingly as a noun? Example: “Shauna, when are you going to send out the wedding invites?”
When was it deemed acceptable to shorten ‘invitation’ to ‘invite’ and, sweet mother of pearl, why?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/2 "2010-11-01T03:47:46Z")
IMO, the verb ‘invite’ is not being used as a noun. I think it’s being used, as you say in your second paragraph, as a shortened version of the noun ‘invitation’. That the verb ‘invite’ and the shortened version of the noun ‘invitation’ are spelled and pronounced the same is a coincidence.
When and why was it deemed acceptable? Who can say? Why is it OK to say ‘Cite?’ instead of ‘Citation?’, or ‘perq’ instead of ‘perquisite’?
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/3 "2010-11-01T03:54:00Z")
I remember my Dad complaining about ‘wedding invites’ about 28 years ago. Everyone else agreed (out of his hearing) that it didn’t matter. So, from my personal experience, about 30 years. I still associate it with more of a US usage for some reason.
It’s still informal but it’s an unsurprising linguistic evolution, whether it’s nouning a verb (which seems to be a current trend in English) or shortening a longer verb (likewise).
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### Author:  [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/4 "2010-11-01T05:20:51Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> When was it deemed acceptable to shorten ‘invitation’ to ‘invite’ and, sweet mother of pearl, why?
Probably at about the same time that _citation_ changed into _cite_ on this message board. 😃 It’s shorter, and it seems to anglicize these Latinate words a bit. It makes them more cozy. (I’m sure a linguist will be along soon to tell me why this is all wrong. . . .)
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/5 "2010-11-01T13:08:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> That the verb ‘invite’ and the shortened version of the noun ‘invitation’ are spelled and pronounced the same is a coincidence.
First of all, the noun and the verb are not pronounced the same, at least not by me or anyone I know. The verb is inVIte and the noun is INvite. However, as, in both cases, the **i** between the **v** and **t** is long (=eye), whereas in “invitation” it is short, suggests to me that the noun “invite” does indeed derive more directly from the verb that from the longer, more formal noun.
As far as the OP’s concerns go, however, I agree with the others that this ship sailed a long, long time ago.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/6 "2010-11-01T13:37:43Z")
And what’s up with “advert?” Can’t you Brits just say ad?
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### Author:  [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/7 "2010-11-01T13:43:31Z")
I got told off at work for using it in the context of a meeting - “I’ll add you to the invite”.
Saying “I’ll add you to the invitation” sounds wrong to me unless you’re talking about a social event of some sort.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/8 "2010-11-01T13:48:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> whether it’s nouning a verb…
I guess it’s OK, since you just verbed a noun. 🙂
mmm
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### Author:  [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/9 "2010-11-01T14:22:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> I guess it’s OK, since you just verbed a noun. 🙂
Actually, I think it’s more of a gerund. The verb in that sentence is “is” (in “it’s”).
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/10 "2010-11-01T14:56:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> ', or ‘perq’ instead of ‘perquisite’?
Thank you. I’ve learned something today. I thought at first you had misspelled prerequisite, but then looked it up. I had always seen that spelled as perk. (or are they different words?)
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### Author:  [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/11 "2010-11-01T14:59:54Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#):
>
> I had always seen that spelled as perk.
You’re not [alone](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=perk+of+the+job&word2=perq+of+the+job).
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/12 "2010-11-01T17:51:45Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#):
>
> Thank you. I’ve learned something today. I thought at first you had misspelled prerequisite, but then looked it up. I had always seen that spelled as perk. (or are they different words?)
This is another of my peeves; yes, I have many. Almost everyone I know misspells it PERK, and most don’t know that it is short for anything.
ETA: I’ve even been corrected when I spell it ‘PERQ’. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/13 "2010-11-01T17:57:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Why is it OK to say ‘Cite?’ instead of ‘Citation?’
I read “Cite?” here as “What do you cite to support this?”
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### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/14 "2010-11-01T18:14:38Z")
I’m surprised you’re only just noticing this. It’s been used this way at least since I was a kid.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/15 "2010-11-01T18:35:06Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> Excuse me if this has come up before but is it my perception or is the transitive verb ‘invite’ being used increasingly as a noun? Example: “Shauna, when are you going to send out the wedding invites?”
>
> When was it deemed acceptable to shorten ‘invitation’ to ‘invite’ and, sweet mother of pearl, why?
Well, according to the OED, since 1659:
> [@OED](#):
>
> 1659 H. L’ESTRANGE Alliance Div. Off. 326 Bishop Cranmer..gives him an earnest invite to England. 1778 F. BURNEY Diary (1842) I. 105 Everybody bowed and accepted the invite but me..for I have no intention of snapping at invites from the eminent. 1818 LADY MORGAN Autobiog. (1859) 39 We have refused two invites for to-day. Ibid. 292 For Monday we have had three dinner invites. 1825 T. HOOK Man of Many Friends in Sayings & Doings Ser. II. I. 279 Adepts in every little meanness or contrivance likely to bring about an invitation (or, as they call it with equal good taste, an ‘invite’). 1883 C. R. SMITH Retrospect. I. 21 Mr. Isaacson readily accepted the invite. 1937 Times 28 Dec. 7/5 This little servant girl, who..believed that she would some day receive an ‘invite’ to a royal ball and marry the prince, [etc.].
There really should be a law that posters should actually _look up the meaning of a word_ before complaining it’s being used incorrectly.
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/16 "2010-11-01T20:41:28Z")
I remember a _Calvin & Hobbes_ cartoon where Calvin is “verbing” words. He is taking nouns and using them as verbs. Kind of the opposite of the OP questions but it still shows how far advance Calvin was in his thinking
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/17 "2010-11-01T20:52:04Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> This is another of my peeves; yes, I have many. Almost everyone I know misspells it PERK, and most don’t know that it is short for anything.
[Uh-huh](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perk). The editors at M-W disagree.
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/18 "2010-11-01T21:08:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Well, according to the OED, since 1659:
>
> There really should be a law that posters should actually _look up the meaning of a word_ before complaining it’s being used incorrectly.
There really should be a law against unnecessary snark.
I didn’t question the meaning of the word, but its usage. Of course I know people use ‘invite’ when they mean ‘invitation’. I also understand that it has gained increasing acceptance, hence my perception. I simply wanted to get a feel for its ubiquity, as invite as a noun sounds strange to me, and as I’ve not lived under a rock all my life, it seemed appropriate to ask the question.
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### Author:  [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/19 "2010-11-01T21:08:53Z")
When I think of “perk” of a job, though, I’m not thinking of prerequisites but benefits. Are you sure people are trying to say “prerequisite”?
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-as-a-noun/559047/20 "2010-11-01T21:23:23Z")
> [@Gestalt](#):
>
> When I think of “perk” of a job, though, I’m not thinking of prerequisites but benefits. Are you sure people are trying to say “prerequisite”?
No, the word is perquisite. Perq (or perk) comes from this. And this is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about words and usage, even taking into consideration inevitable migration.
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