# "Monuments Men" clip: Use of "tasked" (verb) in WWII era. Anachronistic, don't you think? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625 "2014-02-06T00:40:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/1 "2014-02-06T00:40:29Z")
I was watching a news segment tonight about the real “monuments men,” the guys who recovered the artwork looted by the Nazis in WWII. In the segment they showed a brief clip of the new movie _Monuments Men_ that reenacted their work. I have not seen the movie, but it does not appear to be retrospective – the movie takes place in the WWII era, or very shortly thereafter. The clip featured a line spoken by the narrator, George Clooney, that went something like this: “We were tasked with recovering the looted Nazi art.” My brain went, “What – _tasked?!?!?_” I never heard the word “task” verbified (my term) until, like, the late-1980s or afterwards. As I remember it was a corporatespeak term that yuppies invented. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/2 "2014-02-06T00:50:24Z")
Not according to the OED: > [@OED](#): > > a. To force, put, or set (a person) to a task; to impose a task on; to assign a definite amount of work to. > > 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 753/1, I taske, I put or sette one to his taske what laboure he shall do or what he shall paye, je tauxe. > 1598 Shakespeare Love’s Labour’s Lost ii. i. 20 But now to taske the tasker. > 1667 A. Woodhead tr. Life St. Teresa ii. xi. 93 Let her task, and employ them in…Exercises. > 1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 23 Thus man devotes his brother, and destroys;…Chains him, and tasks him, and exacts his sweat With stripes. > 1828 Marly: Planter’s Life in Jamaica 154 The negroes complained more of the [fact] of being tasked, than…of the additional labour. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/3 "2014-02-06T00:53:20Z")
Looks like it was particularly common in government and military circles in the first half of the 20[sup]th[/sup] Century. This Google book search from 1900-1955 offers numerous examples: [tasked - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=tasked&tbs=,cdr:1,cd_min:Jan+1_2+1900,cd_max:Jan+31_2+1955&num=10#q=%22tasked%22&tbm=bks&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min:Jan+1_2+1900%2Ccd_max:Jan+31_2+1955) ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/4 "2014-02-06T01:06:58Z")
Well what do you know? I guess the term was around longer than I thought. \*\*Balance’s \*\*examples seem to show that. But **Reality Chuck** , I don’t think _your_ examples make the case. To “task,” used in the sense of “to bother or annoy” – as Kahn used it to describe Capt. Kirk in _Star Trek: Wrath of Kahn_ (“He tasks me!”) – is not what I’m talking about. I mean to give an assignment or job. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/5 "2014-02-06T01:39:35Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > But **Reality Chuck** , I don’t think _your_ examples make the case. To “task,” used in the sense of “to bother or annoy” – as Kahn used it to describe Capt. Kirk in _Star Trek: Wrath of Kahn_ (“He tasks me!”) – is not what I’m talking about. > > I mean to give an assignment or job. 😕 That’s exactly the sense **Chuck** ’s reference is about: “to impose a task on; to assign a definite amount of work to”. The examples are of that sense (though I can see how some of them might confuse the issue slightly). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/6 "2014-02-06T06:50:58Z")
I saw a sneak preview screening. Most of the movie takes place in the waning days of WWII. The narration is from a briefing/presentation Clooney’s character is giving to the president after he gets back. Good movie. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/7 "2014-02-06T06:54:53Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I saw a sneak preview screening. Most of the movie takes place in the waning days of WWII. The narration is from a briefing/presentation Clooney’s character is giving to the president after he gets back. > > Good movie. I’m interested in seeing it. I believe part of this story was also the subject of the 1965 Burt Lancaster movie, [**The Train**.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059825/?ref_=rvi_tt) ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/8 "2014-02-06T13:50:14Z")
I read the book last year. I’m interested in seeing the movies. National Geographic channel had a special on the Monuments Men last night. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/9 "2014-02-06T14:16:23Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > I never heard the word “task” verbified (my term) until, like, the late-1980s or afterwards. As I remember it was a corporatespeak term that yuppies invented. > > Am I right? It sounds like a military or naval term, I would not be surprised if it became more popular due to migrating from service speak. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/10 "2014-02-06T20:42:57Z")
I’m surprised, too. I would’ve thought it anachronistic in WWII usage. One of the many things wrong with the Lincoln-assassination movie _The Conspirator_ was showing several U.S. Army officers in 1865 barking out “Stand down!” to others. Definitely a more recent phrase, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/11 "2014-02-06T20:46:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > One of the many things wrong with the Lincoln-assassination movie _The Conspirator_ was showing several U.S. Army officers in 1865 barking out “Stand down!” to others. Definitely a more recent phrase, I thought. [Webster’s dates the first known use to 1681.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand%20down) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/12 "2014-02-06T20:56:47Z")
In U.S. military usage, I’d never heard it before the late 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/13 "2014-02-06T21:13:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > In U.S. military usage, I’d never heard it before the late 1990s. It was used in the US military at least since WWI, [according to this NYT piece,](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/29/magazine/on-language.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm) and appears in a dictionary of military terms published in 1918. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/14 "2014-02-06T23:11:33Z")
You guys never heard of a Task Force? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/15 "2014-02-06T23:38:45Z")
The one thing from the trailer that puts me off the movie is the old trope about stepping on a land mine. Complete bullshit and it takes me right out of any movie I see. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/16 "2014-02-07T00:09:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The one thing from the trailer that puts me off the movie is the old trope about stepping on a land mine. Complete bullshit and it takes me right out of any movie I see. Care to explain? What old trope? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/17 "2014-02-07T00:30:00Z")
[This one](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LandMineGoesClick). ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/18 "2014-02-07T00:37:05Z")
According to the Wikipedia page for the S-Mine, aka Bouncing Betty (a mine commonly by the Germans in WWII), it was a common misconception that it did not explode until you released the pressure (a misconception the page vaguely says was reinforced by US propaganda). In fact, the mine did explode regardless once pressure was applied, just with a delay to allow time for the explosives to be launched into the air (which presumably didn’t happen if you were still standing on it). ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/19 "2014-02-07T15:13:51Z")
At least one of the clips has a glaring anachronism: the map of western europe they are studying shows parts of the Netherlands which were not created until long after the war. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625/20 "2014-02-07T17:37:51Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > [This one](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LandMineGoesClick). Yes thank you. The Germans did have a pressure release mine called the E.Z. 44 but that wasn’t an anti personnel mine. It was an anti-tampering device placed under anti-tank mines. When the weight of the mine was lifted off the 44 blew up. But that was not useful against people walking. It’s a bullshit overdone Hollywood crutch that annoys the crap outta me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monuments-men-clip-use-of-tasked-verb-in-wwii-era-anachronistic-dont-you-think/680625.md?page=2)