It is, of course, both, as well as an adjective.

Noun: What color is that?  Blue.
Adjective: She had blue eyes.
Verb: My old shirt is beginning to yellow, so I'll blue it today.

Ed Uber

-----Original Message-----
From: Harrington, Don [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 12:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: OT: English


No, 'blue' is a noun.

Don Harrington
Sr. Systems Analyst
Facilities Applications Support
Shared Services Group
The Boeing Company
P.O. Box 3707 M/C 6C-AK
Seattle, WA  98124-2207
(v) 425-234-1145 (f) 425-234-0464 (p) 206-797-6360

The opinions expressed in this e-mail reflect those of the sender.  They do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Boeing Company unless
specifically stated otherwise.



-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Toback [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 11:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: English


Greg Stigers writes:

>[N]ote that function-shifted words such as "chemistry"
>can only modify a very small number of nouns (class, test, teacher,
>professor, lab), unlike true modifiers, such as "blue".

I'm sorry, but "blue" is a verb.

>Now, if you want a truly annoying language behavior, look at slang and
>jargon, a form of language that essentially marks those who know it as
>insiders, and excludes everyone else. This madness has afflicted IT for too
>long.

Unfortunately, there's a trade-off between greater precision and reduced
vocabulary size. What irritates *me* is the use of jargon specifically
for the purpose of obscuring the fact that the speaker or writer hasn't
the faintest idea what s/he's talking about. Health care quackery is a
particularly fertile field for this noxious practice, but the salespeople
at the corner computer store frequently run a close second.

-- Bruce


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