# "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:** 2
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/21 "2007-09-24T03:12:35Z")
Please, loan him one, before he looses his mind. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/22 "2007-09-24T04:20:35Z")
Usage note from the American Heritage Dictionary: > [@](#): > > The verb _loan_ is well established in American usage and cannot be considered incorrect. The frequent objections to the form by American grammarians may have originated from a provincial deference to British critics, who long ago labeled the usage a typical Americanism. _Loan_ is, however, used to describe only physical transactions, as of money or goods; for figurative transactions, _lend_ is correct: _Distance lends enchantment. The allusions lend the work a classical tone_. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/23 "2007-09-24T10:17:37Z")
[QUOTE=American Heritage Dictionary] The verb loan is well established in American usage and cannot be considered incorrect. The frequent objections to the form by American grammarians may have originated from a provincial deference to British critics, who long ago labeled the usage a typical Americanism. Loan is, however, used to describe only physical transactions, as of money or goods; for figurative transactions, lend is correct: Distance lends enchantment. The allusions lend the work a classical tone. [/QUOTE] This might explain why we have the two different words. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/24 "2007-09-24T10:32:16Z")
Friends, Romans, countrymen, loan me your ears! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/25 "2007-09-24T10:54:23Z")
Odd thing…I can’t seem to find _verb_ listed in my dictionary under the category of verb. It’s listed solely as a noun. _Loan_, of course, is listed under both categories. ---
**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, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/26 "2007-09-24T12:19:21Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Odd thing…I can’t seem to find _verb_ listed in my dictionary under the category of verb. It’s listed solely as a noun. _Loan_, of course, is listed under both categories. [/QUOTE] I think the verb form of verb is verbing. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/27 "2007-09-24T12:28:29Z")
[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] You may be a lunatic- I can’t really say- but ‘there’s’ for ‘there are’ really irritates me. I want to ask them, “if you weren’t using the conjunction, how would you say it? ‘There is many courses of action?’” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/28 "2007-09-24T12:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I think the verb form of verb is verbing. [/QUOTE] I thought it was verbulating. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/29 "2007-09-24T12:53:39Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] You may be a lunatic- I can’t really say- but ‘there’s’ for ‘there are’ really irritates me. I want to ask them, “if you weren’t using the conjunction, how would you say it? ‘There is many courses of action?’” [/QUOTE] I say “there’re”. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/30 "2007-09-24T12:55:25Z")
[Somebody Loan me a dime,](http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Lyrics&file=index&req=showcontent&id=134) I need to call my old time, used to be. Am the only one with this tune in my head as I read this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/31 "2007-09-24T13:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Usually I’m inclined the other way. I rarely object to the verbing of nouns. [/QUOTE] I’m glad, as lately I’ve been unable to stop verbing _my_ noun. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/32 "2007-09-24T13:09:16Z")
Apparently the OP is aloan in his opinion. ---
**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, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/33 "2007-09-24T14:06:49Z")
Another usage that bugs me: “Hung,” as in, “Nathan Hale was hung.” No, sir. John Holmes was hung. Nathan Hale was hanged. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/34 "2007-09-24T14:16:59Z")
How do you know for certain that Nathan Hale wasn’t hung? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/35 "2007-09-24T14:27:08Z")
[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] Actually, I find the drift to “there’s” rather interesting in that it directly parallels the Spanish _hay_ which is used in both the singular and plural. (“There’s” is also not a recent development. We got away using “there’s” as a translation in Spanish class for both the singular and plural over 35 years ago, and we used it because it was so prevalent in our normal conversation.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/36 "2007-09-24T15:10:38Z")
With contraction: “There’s two of them.” With no contraction: “There are two of them.” Works fine for me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/37 "2007-09-24T15:13:28Z")
Verbing weirds language. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/38 "2007-09-24T15:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Another usage that bugs me: “Hung,” as in, “Nathan Hale was hung.” No, sir. John Holmes was hung. Nathan Hale was hanged. [/QUOTE] Are you just trolling or something? Nathan Hale was hung. And I say that without any double entendric reference to his manhood. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/39 "2007-09-24T15:21:41Z")
Can’t “there” be used singularly? There is only one way you will stop me from using there’s and that’s to show me that it cannot be used to reference a single item. ---
**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, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244/40 "2007-09-24T15:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I think the verb form of verb is verbing. [/QUOTE] What’s the past tense? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loan-is-not-a-verb-dammit-loan-is-a-noun-lend-is-a-verb/420244.md?page=3)