Anthimeria

[Emily speaks a lot]

[Andrea says] ‘Em -‘

[Emily says] ‘Don’t “Em,” me, Andy. Let me finish.”¹

This is a quote from the book “The Devil Wears Prada”, famous for its movie adaptation. Emily is talking furiously to Andrea, and Andrea tries to say something back, but Emily won’t let her. Here, the word “Em” in “Don’t Em me” clearly functions as a verb.

The usage of one part of speech as another is called “anthimeria”² (or “antimeria”) in rhetoric. In linguistics, it is called “conversion”, but this term seems to refer to a more general and broader concept (e.g., the verb “name” comes from that as a noun).

In normal conversation, anthimeria can be often seen when referring to the act of using a device or software. For example, “Google”³, “keyboard”⁴, “hashtag”⁵, and “text”⁶ are all found in the OED as verbs. On the contrary, some verbs are used as nouns, such as “like”, which is defined as “In the context of social media: an expression of approval or support made by clicking on a particular icon”⁷.

In advertising, many “verbs” are used that anyone can understand, even if they are not in the dictionary. For instance, the American streaming service Hulu used the phrase ‘Come TV With Us’.