# "Plus" as a verb? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652 "2013-11-11T16:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/1 "2013-11-11T16:23:41Z")
I hear it often in a certain commercial and sometimes elsewhere. In the commercial they say “You plus us and we plus you” Maybe this comes from social media? How can I make them stop. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/2 "2013-11-11T17:01:28Z")
Tell them to use the equally grating transitive “grow” instead. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/3 "2013-11-11T17:06:24Z")
Welcome to the real world of language. Since you can’t stop this, why not use it? Every time you hear “plus” used in this way, change it in your head to “fuck”. You fuck us and we fuck you. Don’t you feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/4 "2013-11-11T17:23:26Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Maybe this comes from social media? I associate it with corporate lingo, especially in the entertainment industry. e.g. The writers describe the monster in the script, then the design team plus it. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/5 "2013-11-11T17:29:33Z")
**Moderator Action** Whether or not pluissing something is an acceptable verb is a factual question. Asking how to make them stop is an advice question. Because the latter is included in the OP, let’s move this over to IMHO where advice can be given. The factual aspect of the topic may still be answered there as well. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/6 "2013-11-11T17:31:31Z")
Verbing weirds language. > **[Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 28, 2013 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/01/28)** > > January 28, 2013 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/7 "2013-11-11T18:08:29Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Tell them to use the equally grating transitive “grow” instead. Hasn’t _grow_ always been transitive … like crops and stuff? I’m not getting _plus_ as a verb at all though. Is it a Facebook thing? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/8 "2013-11-11T18:12:02Z")
I don’t know if it’s a weird hybrid or something but generally people are ok with grow used transitively in agricultural contexts (grow wheat, grow corn, grow crops) but it makes their teeth itch in other arenas (grow money, grow the economy, grow personnel). Dunno why. edit: I’ve become semantically satiated in regards to grow now. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/9 "2013-11-11T18:37:53Z")
It’s advertising lingo for the Sutter hospital group primarily in California and Hawaii. No one uses that phraseology in the real world, social media or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/10 "2013-11-11T18:59:22Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I don’t know if it’s a weird hybrid or something but generally people are ok with grow used transitively in agricultural contexts (grow wheat, grow corn, grow crops) but it makes their teeth itch in other arenas (grow money, grow the economy, grow personnel). Dunno why. > > edit: I’ve become semantically satiated in regards to grow now. I think it’s the inherent metaphor. Grow can just mean to make larger, but, in agricultural contexts, it means something closer to “make happen.” Since “grow” is used transitively only in the latter use, using it elsewhere comes off as having the same meaning. Yet that’s not what it means. It sorta works with money in some cases, as you can plant “seed money,” but it doesn’t work at all with an economy or personnel. You aren’t planting some to get more. Plus “growing something” is usually a more personal process that takes time and effort. Yet the business use often misses one of these two requirements. Either it’s not personal, being something that is affected greatly by the efforts someone other than the “farmers,” like improving the economy, or it is really easy, like adding more people to your workplace. As for “plus”, the problem is not just that a word is being verbed. See, for example, how “verbed” doesn’t grate all that much? It still feels like a verb. This is not the case with “plus.” The same construction already exists where plus is a conjunction. Thus “We plus you” feels like a sentence fragment, part of “We plus you equals X.” So we actually have to stop and go back to understand what’s being said. That makes “plus” far more irritating. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/11 "2013-11-11T21:23:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think it’s the inherent metaphor. Grow can just mean to make larger, but, in agricultural contexts, it means something closer to “make happen.” Since “grow” is used transitively only in the latter use, using it elsewhere comes off as having the same meaning. Yet that’s not what it means. It sorta works with money in some cases, as you can plant “seed money,” but it doesn’t work at all with an economy or personnel. You aren’t planting some to get more. > > Plus “growing something” is usually a more personal process that takes time and effort. Yet the business use often misses one of these two requirements. Either it’s not personal, being something that is affected greatly by the efforts someone other than the “farmers,” like improving the economy, or it is really easy, like adding more people to your workplace. > > As for “plus”, the problem is not just that a word is being verbed. See, for example, how “verbed” doesn’t grate all that much? It still feels like a verb. This is not the case with “plus.” The same construction already exists where plus is a conjunction. Thus “We plus you” feels like a sentence fragment, part of “We plus you equals X.” So we actually have to stop and go back to understand what’s being said. That makes “plus” far more irritating. Perfect! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/12 "2013-11-11T22:22:26Z")
The first thing that came to mind is how small children talk about arithmetic. I was always irritated by classmates who would say to plus something or minus something or times something. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/13 "2013-11-11T23:34:28Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > It’s advertising lingo for the Sutter hospital group primarily in California and Hawaii. No one uses that phraseology in the real world, social media or otherwise. This is what I was thinking. I’ve only heard it used by Sutter, but goodness knows I hear it enough. My husband works there at corporate in the IT department. I keep trying to get him to mess up the computer of whoever it was who came up with it. I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/14 "2013-11-11T23:45:07Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > This is what I was thinking. I’ve only heard it used by Sutter, but goodness knows I hear it enough. My husband works there at corporate in the IT department. I keep trying to get him to mess up the computer of whoever it was who came up with it. I hate it. I’ve got your back in that ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/15 "2013-11-12T00:17:36Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I don’t know if it’s a weird hybrid or something but generally people are ok with grow used transitively in agricultural contexts (grow wheat, grow corn, grow crops) but it makes their teeth itch in other arenas (grow money, grow the economy, grow personnel). Dunno why. Because it reduces personnel to just another crop. Same as when the HR jackasses refer to personnel as “assets”, which just reduces them to figures in a T-account. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/16 "2013-11-12T01:15:16Z")
I get the same feeling with HR itself–human resources, as if we’re just another commodity to be mined and exploited. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plus-as-a-verb/673652/17 "2013-11-12T01:30:19Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > This is what I was thinking. I’ve only heard it used by Sutter, but goodness knows I hear it enough. My husband works there at corporate in the IT department. I keep trying to get him to mess up the computer of whoever it was who came up with it. I hate it. Yeah…we weren’t consulted on the change. That’s all I’m sayin’.