Small Rant: REVEAL is not a NOUN!

[SimuLord]

The use of "reveal" as a noun is almost as bad as the use of "effect" as a verb by business-school types.

What bugs me about that latter example is that the word "effect" as a verb is used where the word "cause" should be, literally confusing cause and effect!

 

[Dags90]

Sadly, this is true. I loathe "meh" and "lol" but apparently they have crept into the common vernacular and now function as actual words. I am not entirely sure HOW, since to me they are monosyllabic tripe, but what the hey.

English is a language mostly thieved from other languages, rarely making sense, and like all living languages, in a constant process of evolution. I agree we should all learn to speak, write, spell and punctuate Proper English, but since I can't stop the evolution I will simply have to adjust my thinking accordingly. As will you.

Funeral for Correct Use of English will be held at ten a.m., refreshments to follow. All comers will be welcome.

Except this isn't an incorrect use of English. Substitution of one word class for another dates back to at least Shakespeare and is apparently called Anthimeria [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthimeria]. "The big reveal" is a fairly common expression, it's not like people are turning verbs into nouns left and right.

What I dislike are people like the OP who try to push their particular writing style onto others as rule. He's not as bad as Strunk and White, but that's hardly saying much.

I don't even know how many ways there are to rearrange this message by changing syntax and word form.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

English has never really made that much sense. We've managed to streamline it for the most part but its still pretty messy at times. And languages evolve, so there are always new terms being added.

Plus I do think that reveal is a noun as well as a verb. A "reveal" is when an important piece of information is; surprise, surprise; revealed.

And if you don't think a word can be used as a noun or verb then what about this:
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
That is a grammatically correct sentence, I shit you not.

 

[Gralian]

TvTropes would have a word with you.

But seriously, as much as i hate to admit it, English 'is an evolving language' as i'm constantly being told. It's why being gay today means homosexual as opposed to happy, and why American English is different to British English. Words adopt different meanings and properties. Who the hell thought 'sick' would ever change to mean something positive? Talk about a complete role reversal.

Incidentally though, i see a lot of grammar alterations like the one you rant about that piss me off but ultimately you have to just deal with it and move on.

 

[TheLaofKazi]

Or, it could just be that languages change over time. The only purpose of a language is to serve as a series of symbols, the meanings of which are understood both by the encoder and the decoder. If it has become common practice to use the term "reveal," and its intended meaning is recognized when people use it, then it serves its purpose as a symbol, and for all intents and purposes it becomes a noun.

This is essentially what I was going to say. There are many words that have been added to our language in a similar matter, so I don't see why this one bothers you so much.

Yeah. Sure, I think grammar can serve it's purpose, but saying something like "this is the big reveal" is perfectly understandable, and it's using the word in a new way. It's expanding language. I mean, what about the many other verbs we use as nouns, or the ones that can double as nouns while still being grammatically correct? Words like "feast" can be used both as a noun or a verb. Why can't the same be done for "reveal"? Because the rules state otherwise? Then change the rules. Obviously that rule doesn't make much sense.

 

[procyonlotor]

I even hear the sainted MovieBob say this...it isn't proper English to say "big reveal". "Reveal" was intended to be a verb, not a noun. I didn't actually hear people start saying this until Extreme Makeover Home Edition, but it might have started earlier. I don't care. It's just a constant pet peeve gnawing at my grammar-Nazi gut every time someone refers to a "reveal".

The noun form of "reveal" is "REVELATION". Perhaps it has a negative connotation because it's the English name for the book of the Bible that prophesies the end of the world. I don't really care what perceived religious undertones the word has. I just want people to start using it again! It's imbecilic, improper blather, and it needs to stop!

DONE. *Rage*

The nature of English is such that words can easily pass from one part of speech into the other. This is called conversion or functional shift or zero-derivation, and it is partly the reason why English is such a wonderfully varied and flexible language.

I expect reveal will overtake revelation eventually, the latter being, of course, too biblical and formal in connotation for everyday use. Then it will be used in formal contexts exclusively. By then only people like us will be complaining that revelation is the better word.

So it goes.

 

[Brendan Main]

I wholly support this crackdown on big reveals, though I don't think it covers the extent of the problem by half. I propose the list of verboten phrases be expanded to include:

Big Sleep
Big Chill
Big Easy
Big Kahuna Burger
Biggie Smalls
Big Brother
Big Barda
Big Lebowski
Big Trouble in Little China

Also suspect are describing oneself as being "a pretty big deal," and Tom Hanks in the movie "Big," excluding that one scene where he dances on that giant piano. Also, whenever somebody is ordered to "go big or go home," they should be encouraged to "go home." In this situation, correct bus fare should be provided.

In order for our precious language not to crawl up its own bunghole and disappear forever, I order all The Internets to comply exactly, immediately and to the letter.

Or not. No big.

 

[HT_Black]

While we're on the topic of words, here's a fun one: "trivial".

Now THAT was a fine diss indeed. Seriously, that burn was so hot you can see the glow coming off the monitor.

I...I really have nothing else to say, after that.

 

[Thamous]

Wouldn't it be a gerund? A verb used as noun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund

 

[Samus Aaron]

Actually, technically it can be used as a noun since it is a gerund, which is a verb that functions as a noun.

 

[crudus]

Here is the fun thing about languages that aren't dead: they are subject to change! "Gay" only meant happy 50 years ago, "ain't" wasn't a (respected)word 30 years ago, and "reveal" is slowly working its way to be a noun.

While we're on the topic of words, here's a fun one: "trivial".

 

[Formica Archonis]

The noun form of "reveal" is "REVELATION". Perhaps it has a negative connotation because it's the English name for the book of the Bible that prophesies the end of the world. I don't really care what perceived religious undertones the word has. I just want people to start using it again! It's imbecilic, improper blather, and it needs to stop!

Thank you very much for your input on the matter, Mr. Nero Wolfe.

Mr. Wolfe is in the middle of the a fit. It's complicated. There's a fireplace in the front room, but it's never lit because he hates open fires. He says they stultify mental processes. But it's lit now because he's using it. He's seated in front of it, on a chair too small for him, tearing sheets out of a book and burning them. The book is the new edition, the third edition, of Webster's New International Dictionary, Unabridged, published by the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. He considers it subversive because it threatens the integrity of the English language. In the past week he has given me a thousand examples of its crimes. He says it is a deliberate attempt to murder the - I beg your pardon. I describe the situation at length because he told me to bring you in there, and it will be bad.

 

[dthvirus]

It's imbecilic, improper blather, and it needs to stop!

DONE. *Rage*

My amusement turned into horror when I realized you weren't joking. Reminds me of an old thread where some guys were posting about how 'decimate' actually meant 'to reduce by one-tenth', completely ignoring a couple odd thousand years of language evolution.

 

[Elle-Jai]

Funeral for Correct Use of English will be held at ten a.m., refreshments to follow. All comers will be welcome.

Except this isn't an incorrect use of English. SNIP

What I dislike are people like the OP who try to push their particular writing style onto others as rule.

Two things

One) I never said for whom the bell tolled. In plain English, this translates to: I'm not necessarily calling the funeral because there is a common expression referring to "the big reveal," (which I too use). I am calling the funeral because there are ever so many examples, more so since the advent of technology being available to the majority of people/homes, of the language being butchered.

Since this is predominately an American forum, I will not mention that America is one of the leaders in this field, and that "U.S. English" is not "English" it's "Rubbish" and Learn To Spell Already!!!

Two) The OP is ranting. You are responding. This is referred to as a "discussion" not "proselytizing" or forcing their opinions onto you. If you disagree, just don't respond

 

[Dags90]

If you disagree, just don't respond

Or perhaps post my disagreements so a reasonable discourse may follow?

The OP is clearly trying to portray this particular usage as "improper", if he were calling the usage "informal" I wouldn't have cared or posted.

 

[tavelkyosoba]

It's not a recent evolution, slang, or improper.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - 1962

reveal, n.
1. a disclosure, a revealing.
2. the part of a window or door which is between the outer edge and the opening of the frame

1962, if you were wondering, was long before Extreme Makeover Home Edition and movie bob started using the word.

Stop twisting your panties over something that's actually CORRECT.

Edit: I have no idea why I have a dictionary that's twice as old as me...but I haz it!

 

[Zero_ctrl]

Webster begs to differ. [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reveal]
EDIT: Shi- ninja'd D:

 

[oktalist]

Small rant: yes it is.

"Reveal" was intended to be a verb, not a noun.

The English language was not invented by some monks in 1066. It developed organically over centuries, and continues to do so. So it doesn't make sense to talk about how words were intended to be used.

The dictionary says it is a noun.

The noun form of "reveal" is "REVELATION". Perhaps it has a negative connotation because it's the English name for the book of the Bible that prophesies the end of the world. I don't really care what perceived religious undertones the word has.

And the adjective form of fantasy is fantastic, but I wouldn't call Two Worlds a fantastic game.

It's imbecilic, improper blather, and it needs to stop!

It's not, though.

Reveal is the accepted term for a particular plot device in motion pictures.

Personally, when I see the word reveal, I think of those bits of hidden text on Teletext that would be revealed when you pressed the reveal button on your TV remote.