Can DDR be used as a verb?

DJ C0m37 · Trick Member Joined: 09 Feb 2005

if you say DDR with a korean accent, it means masterbation in Korean.

So i was in korean class, teacher asked us what we like to do on our free time, I said I play DDR with my friends(I said it in Korean), all the korean kids started laughing and the teacher looked at me disgusted.

MAAAX_himself · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:08 pm Post subject:

Synaesthesia · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject:

xxPinkeh · Trick Member Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Location: around. *shrug*

Meh. like I said rules are meant to be broken....

So, maybe I don't know how to use DDR as a verb, but it sounds good.

Synaesthesia · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:02 pm Post subject:

xxPinkeh · Trick Member Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Location: around. *shrug*

LegendaryR56 · Trick Member Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Location: Littleton, CO

i alawys say i am ddrin it up when i am playing ddr.

neveza · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:17 am Post subject:

[quote="LegendaryR56"]i alawys say i am ddrin it up when i am playing ddr.[/quote]

I bet you sound like a redneck when you say that lol unless you are lol

I dont use it as a verb I say I play DDR or I am going to play DDR. I never really see the point in making it into a verb.
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Julie QQQ...? · Trick Member Joined: 07 Jun 2002 Location: Boston, MA

"A descriptive grammar looks at the way a language is actually used by its speakers and then attempts to analyse it and formulate rules about the structure. Descriptive grammar does not deal with what is good or bad language use; forms and structures that might not be used by speakers of Standard English would be regarded as valid and included. It is a grammar based on the way a language actually is and not how some think it should be."

I'm usually a hard-hitting member of the grammar police (although I usually seethe quietly in the corner while everyone else does their part in pointing out mistakes), and I always did well in it in school. Still, sometimes I think other things override grammar, and that'd be the linguistic police. While everyone here seems to be pointing out the presecriptive aspect of grammar (as the textbooks dictate in English class), I'm going to play the devil's advocate and argue the case of descriptive grammar, which is definitely a lot more useful to a beginning linguistics student such as myself.

Usually the only time I'll use it in a verb context would be present progressive ("I'm DDRing today, wanna come?") or the present perfect progressive ("I've been DDRing all week. and I'm broke as hell.") Anything else coming out of my mouth just sounds plain stupid.

Syn, while you're grammatically correct, I'd have to respectfully disagree. "Let's DDR" is the first person plural imperative constructed with Let (verb) + us (noun) + [insert infinitive verb here]. Your logic is saying that DDR is not by any means an infinitive verb, which grammatically it isn't. However, when taking the vernacular and slang into consideration, people use it in a verb form, and I'm gonna let them without being too nitpicky.

Linguistically, it's a phenomenon known as back-formation. In back-formation, the constant use of a word in the vernacular could cause another grammatical form that becomes widely accepted into the lexicon as correct. For instance, the word "burglar" means "a person who steals from someone else", but over time, the verb "to burgle" was derived from this. Many words are formed like this, and I think if someone would like to define "DDR" the abbreviation as a verb, by all means, they can. It doesn't sound awkward, and it's already used quite a bit by people so its more accepted, the first signs of accepted back-formation.

Oi vey. This is what happens when Julie Q is home bored on a Saturday night after a vacation in Hawaii when she didn't have to think too hard. Yikes!

Synaesthesia · Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 6:36 pm Post subject:

Very true; were it not for the phenomena which you have described, there probably wouldn't be such a thing as slang in the first place. It's not as though I would call someone on their slang usage of "DDR" at the arcade; I doubt anyone is going to have the patience to listen to my explanation of proper verb construction. My point was that, in formal English, it couldn't be used as a verb (as in, you wouldn't use it in an English paper without losing points for grammar).** It's not my cup of sake to use a great deal of slang (including descriptive grammar, back-formation, and all that jazz) in my speaking, but I wouldn't hold it against anyone unless what they said became completely unintelligible.

Conclusion: It isn't appropriate for formal English, it's accepted for informal conversation and such.

**Unless you were quoting someone, or another appropriate anomaly. <--I'm alliterative!

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Julie QQQ...? · Trick Member Joined: 07 Jun 2002 Location: Boston, MA

Okay, well so I guess it's a simple case of "I say tomato, you say tomahto".

Still, if you bust out the phrase "I did better than he" in your verbal speech, as grammatically correct as that may be, I might have to kick you in the face.

(PS - Descriptive grammar isn't as informal as you may think it is. Every language, no matter how "wrong" it may be by prescriptive standards, is rule-governed. Take a linguistics course if you haven't already; you may really, really enjoy it.)

(PPS - Isn't "Dance Dance" kind of grammatically incorrect and redundant, when you really think about it?

)

PedanticOmbudsman · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 8:56 am Post subject:

This is a great thread.

Now let's analyze my favorite quote from Beatmania:

"We expect you a nice play again."

Go ahead, try to make sense of that one. It's the ultimate unsolvable riddle: the more you think about, the less sense it makes.

Synaesthesia · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:14 am Post subject:

It's just a bad Engrish translation. I like this site for its unintended hilarity in translations, but, from reading it often, it's easy to see what is first to be lost in translation. It sounds like other screw-ups, but I'm not exactly sure how to describe it (my linguistic knowledge extends as far as what is acceptable for Mrs. O'Bryant's research papers).
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BUTTS47 · Trick Member Joined: 04 Jan 2005

I know using DDR as a verb isn't correct in a grammar sense, but I will contintue to say things like, " Lets go DDR " and "I've been DDRING all day" until the day i pass on.

Darkicarus · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject:

mydixiewrecked · Trick Member Joined: 29 Mar 2005

PedanticOmbudsman · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:02 pm Post subject:

I kayak...
I samba...
I go-kart...
I vacation...
I tango...

Those are all nouns can be verbs instead when it's convenient for them to be. They're just simpler and more appealing than "I paddle a kayak," "I dance the samba," "I ride a go-kart," "I go on vacation," and "I do the tango."

oO The Fly Oo · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:25 pm Post subject:

no
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Raiv Xomby · Trick Member Joined: 15 Jun 2005

naturally untalented · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:15 pm Post subject:

oh the irony... beside the fact that many koreans are good at DDR... To the question, I love DDRing and just DDR'd last night and also use these terms everyday with my friends... good times