# "Loan" is not a verb, dammit! "Loan" is a noun! "Lend" is a verb! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244 "2007-09-24T00:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/1 "2007-09-24T00:45:00Z")
Rather lame, I know. I consider this Pitworthy only because it is an error I keep encountering **even in the writings of highly literate people** – most recently, in Terry Pratchett’s new Discworld novel, _Making Money._ Several times. I also get bugged by “presently” being used to mean “now” rather than “soon.” Even the anchors on _All Things Considered_ make that mistake, frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/2 "2007-09-24T00:49:06Z")
From [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/) : Loan: Function: transitive verb : LEND ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/3 "2007-09-24T00:52:07Z")
The online dictionaries I just consulted all say that loan is a noun and a verb. The dictionaries seem split on the “presently” issue, so I’ll just give you that one and say, Fuck yeah! You tell 'em! ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/4 "2007-09-24T00:56:45Z")
Meh. If it’s common, and even common amongst highly literate people, then why is it _not_ a verb, exactly? What are words defined by, if not by how they’re actually used? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/5 "2007-09-24T00:58:48Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Meh. If it’s common, and even common amongst highly literate people, then why is it _not_ a verb, exactly? What are words defined by, if not by how they’re actually used? [/QUOTE] There is a sub group of people that would like to see languages chiseled in stone and unchanging like Classical Latin or Ancient Greek. Apparently **BrainGlutton** is aligning himself with this group. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/6 "2007-09-24T01:20:33Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] There is a sub group of people that would like to see languages chiseled in stone and unchanging like Classical Latin or Ancient Greek. Apparently **BrainGlutton** is aligning himself with this group. 😉 [/QUOTE] Usually I’m inclined the other way. I rarely object to the verbing of nouns. But in this case, where there’s already a perfectly useful Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic verb, the verbing of the analogous noun strikes me as sloppiness. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/7 "2007-09-24T01:21:51Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Usually I’m inclined the other way. I rarely object to the verbing of nouns. But in this case, where there’s already a perfectly useful Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic verb, the verbing of the analogous noun strikes me as sloppiness. [/QUOTE] I have been hearing “can you loan me a dollar” all my life. I think it is too late for this one. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/8 "2007-09-24T01:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I have been hearing “can you loan me a dollar” all my life. I think it is too late for this one. [/QUOTE] The OED includes cites of “loan” as a verb going back to 1640 in its current spelling, and back to 1200 in various alternate spellings. I think this one is well and truly lost. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/9 "2007-09-24T01:36:31Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Usually I’m inclined the other way. I rarely object to the verbing of nouns. But in this case, where there’s already a perfectly useful Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic verb, the verbing of the analogous noun strikes me as sloppiness. [/QUOTE] In what sense is it sloppy? Does it leave crumbs for cockroaches? Does it ever, ever, ever result in confusion? Do you trip over it when you’re getting up in the middle of the night to go get a drink of water? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/10 "2007-09-24T01:40:36Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Usually I’m inclined the other way. I rarely object to the verbing of nouns. But in this case, where there’s already a perfectly useful Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic verb, the verbing of the analogous noun strikes me as sloppiness. [/QUOTE] You realize that the verb form of “loan” _was_ the original Anglo monosyllabic verb supplied for that use, right? “Lend” is (or was) properly the past tense form only. Sometime around the fourteenth century, illiterate people began using it as the principal verb form, presumably because of its accidental similarity to “bend,” “send,” “mend,” “wend,” etc. It kind of stuck, but never entirely supplanted “loan.” Of course, this sort of misuse strikes me as _unforgivably_ sloppy. ETA: I am slow. ---
**Author:** ![Miscue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Miscue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miscue)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/11 "2007-09-24T01:40:50Z")
Sorry to distract, but thought I’d ask while we’re on the subject of things that even _All Things Considered_ folks get wrong on a regular basis. Am I a lunatic for insisting people use ‘there are’ instead of ‘there’s’? My wife and I feel like we’re there only two people on the planet who are still miffed by phrases like "there’s many courses of action availableto us’. Am I too much in the old school here (I think not, as we’re only 27)? Where’s the outrage? I even see most well-written posters on this board doing it. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/12 "2007-09-24T01:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=Miscue] Sorry to distract, but thought I’d ask while we’re on the subject of things that even _All Things Considered_ folks get wrong on a regular basis. **Am I a lunatic** for insisting people use ‘there are’ instead of ‘there’s’? My wife and I feel like we’re there only two people on the planet who are still miffed by phrases like "there’s many courses of action availableto us’. Am I too much in the old school here (I think not, as we’re only 27)? Where’s the outrage? I even see most well-written posters on this board doing it. [/QUOTE] No. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/13 "2007-09-24T01:52:11Z")
It bothers me to hear “loan” used as a verb, too. Unfortunately that battle was lost decades ago: I hear it in movies as far back as the 30s all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/14 "2007-09-24T01:53:38Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I have been hearing “can you loan me a dollar” all my life. I think it is too late for this one. [/QUOTE] To be fair, I’ve personally more commonly heard, “No, I won’t loan you a dollar. How did you get this number?” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/15 "2007-09-24T01:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!] To be fair, I’ve personally more commonly heard, “No, I won’t loan you a dollar. How did you get this number?” [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/16 "2007-09-24T02:04:34Z")
When will people start cracking open a dictionary before starting these rants? Have they _ever_ turned out to be a valid complaint, and not something that has been in common use for three or four centuries? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/17 "2007-09-24T02:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] It bothers me to hear “loan” used as a verb, too. Unfortunately that battle was lost decades ago: I hear it in movies as far back as the 30s all the time. [/QUOTE] Are people just not reading past the OP, and missing the parts where other posters gently point out that “loan” has been a verb since before the days of William Shakespeare? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/18 "2007-09-24T02:28:33Z")
Here in Minnesota people say “could you borrow me that pencil.” Proper verb or not, I’d consider “loan” a huge improvement. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/19 "2007-09-24T02:39:27Z")
Someone should gift the OP a dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/20 "2007-09-24T02:43:34Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Someone should gift the OP a dictionary. [/QUOTE] Or at least loan him one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244.md?page=2)