I was checking my spelling for tabletop at Websters. One word or two.
I was quite surprised at their crappy definition. *Tabletop *radios and Tabletop Tv’s. *Console *radios & tv’s have been established words for 80 years or more.
I think of Tabletop as a specific noun. It tells you the intended purpose of the item. You can’t put a console tv on a table. I’d argue that tabletop and console have become nouns in this usage. They are more than adjectives.
Tabletop radio
console radio
Am I over thinking this? Websters definition doesn’t begin to properly explain this word. IMHO But they do give some weird example of a collection of pictures? What the hell were they smoking?
Are you complaining that they don’t have the adjective definition (which I agree they should), or are you complaining that they don’t have another noun definition, where you would refer to a tabletop radio as just a tabletop? I’ve never heard that second usage before.
Well both. They don’t even mention tabletop radios. Thats the most common usage of the word there is. I’m not sure if its only an adjective or if it became a noun. I used to see ads in the newspapers for tabletop tv’s. I think of it as a noun in the situation. Can an adjective become a noun if its used enough in a common phrase?
I guess today the word is declining in use because electronics are pocket sized today. Tv’s are still big because of the viewing screen.
Laptop Computer. Is laptop a adj because the computer can rest in your lap. Or is it a noun in that phrase?
A laptop computer.: “laptop” is an adjective.
A laptop.: “laptop” is a noun.
Similarly for “a console TV” versus “a console”. I’ve never heard “a tabletop” used in place of “a tabletop radio”. Tabletop to me only means the top of a table.
And, just to note, the OED has tabletop as an adjective (either hyphenated or single word), with the photography definition as the first. To clarify, that definition apparently refers to the practice of photographing miniature diorama set (obviously) on tabletops. It’s a usage that is probably on the wane; the first quote is from 1914 (“We can all enter the lists of table-top photography,‥and spend our winter evenings counterfeiting, at leisure, many of the most attractive sights of the world.”) and the most recent from 1956.
Also, Merriam-Webster doesn’t elaborate, but they do indicate the word can be used as an adjective (“— tabletopadjective”). As for usage morphing those adjective-noun phrases into simple adjectives-as-nouns, that’s rather common, I suppose, but not necessarily in need of a specific definition entry.
I can remember when a TV presenter tested his audience on the use of the word ‘transistor’. To the teenagers it meant a small portable radio; to the adults it (mostly) meant a small electronic device. These days no one calls a small radio a ‘transistor’. Mostly it’s an MP3 player or one of those Apple things.
I’d argue that tabletop and console have become nouns in this usage. They are more than adjectives.
