OT
Hey, this is English. I can verba-lize or nuance any dang word I want. Getting away with it depends on how much style I got.
Yes, you certainly can. They're your words and you can do as you please with them. I use words in non-standard ways sometimes, too. That's both the glory and bane of English.
What you can't get away with, though, is challenging someone else's credibility based on your lack of understanding of their standard words. No amount of style enables that.
FWIW, I have used "nuance" as a verb, too. It would seem that "to nuance" would logically mean "to add nuance." (Can't check that in the dictionary, though, because it's not there.) Logically, the speaker, not the listener, would be the "nuancer." (How's that for taking liberties with the language? <g>) Just as "imply" and "infer" refer to different sides of the conversation, we'd need a different word for whatever it is that the listener does to the words he hears, which was the implied usage in question.
My favorite coined word has always been "default" as in "the default is that we meet each week at eight." I adapted thirty years ago when I first studied computer programming. I soon discovered that I couldn't get along without the usage. I no longer have to explain it to people when I use it, but I see that that usage is not yet in the dictionary although the computer programming usage has recently been added. Maybe soon. <g> |
