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The W - Random - Grammar Freaks Talk to me!
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who__lame
Tocino








Since: 23.1.02

Since last post: 7602 days
Last activity: 7581 days
#1 Posted on
Why do we say X is a mark FOR (say) Steve Blackman while
we say X is a fan OF Blackman?

both fan and mark are nouns right? Then why the difference
in usage?
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ironcladlou
Potato korv








Since: 2.1.02
From: Quincy, MA

Since last post: 5699 days
Last activity: 5551 days
#2 Posted on
 

Well....mark is nore of a carny-speak colloquialism. Slang can kinda create its own grammar. "Mark for..." can be appropriate, just like "CRZ is a worker for XO" not "of XO" as well.



ironcladlou

"I am made from the dust of the stars, and the oceans flow in my veins"


- Rush, 'Presto'

Excalibur05
Knackwurst








Since: 19.1.02
From: Minnesota

Since last post: 2906 days
Last activity: 2774 days
#3 Posted on
There's some implied action too. "Marking" is an action. Being a fan is not. Thus if one is a "mark for Steve Blackman", it implies that when one watches Blackman wrestle or sees Blackman buying cheese in the dairy aisle, then he/she would perform the act of marking out. (Gee that sounded alot less sick when I first thought it...)

If a person is just a fan of Blackman, then it doesn't imply any sort of action on thier part. If a person is a fan of say Test, it doesn't mean that they will cheer wildly every time they see Test, it just means that they enjoy Test...(Oh dear...)

Thus: One marks for Blackman, so one is a mark for Blackman

One does not fan of Test, however one is a fan of Test.

(edited by Excalibur05 on 13.2.02 1742)
These mini Reeses cup things are addictive...
MoeGates
Boudin blanc








Since: 6.1.02
From: Brooklyn, NY

Since last post: 14 days
Last activity: 7 days
#4 Posted on
If you say "I am a mark for Blackman," that makes Blackman the indirect object and "mark" the direct object. If you say "I am a fan of Test" that makes "Test" the direct object and "fan" a possesive of "Test."

However, if you say "I am a Test fan" or "I am a Blackman mark," then the word "mark" or "fan" is the possesive and "Blackman" or "Test" is the direct object.

So I gues the question is "why can the word 'mark' be used with an indirect object while the 'fan' can't?"

The answer is: I have no idea. I tried to figure it out but nothing really worked. Any ideas?

Moe



Farooq is the man so hit your knees and start praying!
Jaguar
Knackwurst








Since: 23.1.02
From: In a Blue State finally

Since last post: 1894 days
Last activity: 1894 days
#5 Posted on
Because, as Excalibur said in so many words, Mark and Marking are verbs. I don't fan out for Angle, but I do Mark out for Angle. It's as simple as that.

Verbing words is fun, ain't it?

-jAg
MoeGates
Boudin blanc








Since: 6.1.02
From: Brooklyn, NY

Since last post: 14 days
Last activity: 7 days
#6 Posted on
But look at it this way. I can be a Test mark, and be a mark for Test, because as you say, "marking" is a verb. I can be a Test nut, and be a nut for Test, but "nutting" sure isn't a verb.

Moe



Farooq is the man so hit your knees and start praying!
E
Cotechino








Since: 7.1.02
From: WPB

Since last post: 7038 days
Last activity: 6920 days
#7 Posted on

    Originally posted by MoeGates
    but "nutting" sure isn't a verb.

    Moe



It could be in a dirty way. A guy I used to work with use to say it in reference to his sexcapades. Funny guy. Anyone can make a noun a verb or anything they want it to be even if it doesn't make much sense. There was this published short story I had to read for one of my workshop classes that was full of nouns as verbs like "he Mountain Dewed to the mailbox." Trippy stuff.
Jaguar
Knackwurst








Since: 23.1.02
From: In a Blue State finally

Since last post: 1894 days
Last activity: 1894 days
#8 Posted on

    Originally posted by MoeGates
    But look at it this way. I can be a Test mark, and be a mark for Test, because as you say, "marking" is a verb. I can be a Test nut, and be a nut for Test, but "nutting" sure isn't a verb.

    Moe



Hmmm. There's something inherently wrong in the language :) Anyway... you being a Test nut/mark/fan sets you as the object (a mark/nut/fan) and being described by being for a nut for Test. Bleh, if I was an english major kind of guy I could say that correctly and in a simple format. Anyway, you can't be a fan for Test, unless you were being 'a fan, for Test'. So why can you be a nut for Test? Maybe if I say it like, "I'm a crazy person for Test". That works. But "I'm a crazy for Test" doesn't. Bleh, I'm utterly worthless in this thread, so I surrender.

-Jaggles
ironcladlou
Potato korv








Since: 2.1.02
From: Quincy, MA

Since last post: 5699 days
Last activity: 5551 days
#9 Posted on
 

It all comes back to the most versatile word in the english language: Fuck. Fuck has so many different connotations and grammatical uses, it's astounding.

Verb: "You don't always have to fuck her hard."

Noun: "You have got to be the dumbest fuck I've ever met."

Adjective: "Would you like to take a ride in my fuck wagon?"

Gerund: "I've really got to take a fucking pee."

That's not mentioning fucker, motherfucker, fuckface, ass-fuckingly, etc...

The point I'm trying to make is that if people started saying "I'm a mark of Test", then eventually, if enough people used it, it would become an accepted part of the language.



ironcladlou

"I am made from the dust of the stars, and the oceans flow in my veins"


- Rush, 'Presto'

Zeruel
Thirty Millionth Hit
Moderator








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Silver Spring in the Land of Mary.

Since last post: 1666 days
Last activity: 1666 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.05
nutting = ejaculating



-- Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
-- Satisfaction GUARENTEED!!!! or you owe me ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Ubermonkeys is a TOOL, please kick him in the JUNK.
R-D-Z
who__lame
Tocino








Since: 23.1.02

Since last post: 7602 days
Last activity: 7581 days
#11 Posted on
I thought of 4 sentences last night which might or might shed more light on this and seems to bear Excabilur out. Here they are without explainations.

1a) I am an employee of IBM
1b) I am a worker for IBM

1a) I am an employee for IBM
1b) I am a worker of IBM

3a) I am a sucker for fruity-tooty lollypops.
32b) I am a sucker of fruity-tooty lollypops.

P.S Don't take these literally. ;-)
Dr Unlikely
Liverwurst








Since: 2.1.02

Since last post: 2162 days
Last activity: 1769 days
#12 Posted on
It's not really about mark being a verb. Mark, in the carny sense that Lou mentioned above, is referring to the person being an easy target for someone to fool. So if you use "mark" in the pseudo-bastardized way that we tend to in this sense, someone who really likes Blackman is, in a sense, a mark for him, since the person would be more easily targeted by Blackman.

That Steve Blackman...is there anything he can't explain?
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