Matt Williams asked:
Why are buildings called buildings? Surely they are builts or even comleteteds?
Regards,
Matt
Why are buildings called buildings? Surely they are builts or even comleteteds?
Regards,
Matt
posted by hughevans at 8:30 AM
4 Comments:
Matt,
A great pleasure to have you quiz me for your first time. It is always a delight for me to have new and wonderful people ask to be deconfused. I should also apologise for my tardiness as I am aware that your tester was posed some time ago.
So - the word 'building' bothers you? Well, your state, it would appear, is not uncommon. There is a condition known as 'venophobia', which is 'the irrational fear of words that are both nouns and verbs'. I know you are sensitive to this issue, but by way of therapy please read on as I give you some more examples of words such as these:
cloud, storm, surf, book, milk, hammer, needle, rose, fuel, bomb, and strike.
Interestingly, what you seem to have is a rare variation on this phobia known as 'venoingphobia', otherwise known as 'the irrational feal of verbs and nouns that also end in ing'. For example (and please try to stay calm as you peruse these):
Clearing, angling, fishing, marking, meeting, haunting, and Barking (although due to scrabble rules this last word would not usually bother a venoingphobic).
Now their is something abnormal about the word building when linked to this condition, which is why I have found this investigation so fascinating. In order to compile these lists, I did a lot of research, and throughout my working (sorry, Matt - working - there's another one I've found)... throughout my working, I found no other physical man-made structures other than building to add to my compilation. Being naturally inquisitive of mind this got me to thinking (thinking - there's another one - apologies Matt)... what if 'building' is the only word of this sort? In which case, perhaps my initial diagnosis had been incorrect. What if I had discovered an entirely new phobia?
Now I am merely an excellent PI, I make no claims to being of medical decree. However, what if there was a venoingphobia that was merely applicable for the word 'building' and perhaps other words that are both nouns and verbs and end in 'ing' that are also some form of physical man-made structure (although I challenge you to present me with any others). If this is the case, then I feel sure the name of the phobia would be 'venoingpmsphobia'. In my excitement I looked this up on google and indeed no such phobia exists. Matt, as my gift to you for replying so late to your question, I would be honoured to hereby hand over the rights to this ground-breaking discovery. You are now the proud discoverer (and indeed if my diagnosis has been just, the first ever sufferer) of 'venoingpmsphobia'. I hope any money you can raise from this will help you to lead the most normal life you can... given your unfortunate circumstances.
Please come again.
Hugh Evans PI
Could this be a case of Gerundphobia?
A gerund is a noun created from the -ing form of a verb; gerunds act as subjects and objects in sentences. gerund phrase: phrases that begin with the -ing form of a verb and have objects and modifiers; a gerund phrase always acts as a noun in a sentence, not as an adjective.
You could also blame the Germans, since the word 'building' is of Germanic origin.
Civil engineer now are we? Maybe I'm Hughphobic but your site is still as bad as ever even after 6 months of leaving you alone. Abusing people on their blog site is like the special olympics you may win, but you're still a tard. I hope you are happy. I have only one thing to say to you. Living Room.
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