Words and fings...

[Seafront Plodder]

My 'O' level English Language *ahem* (grade B though!!) was just that teeny bit too long ago...

The word 'revenge'. Verb or noun?



or sommat else....

[Sweder]

Revenge ri-venj - Verb (transitive)

Sweet is revenge - especially to women Byron
Revenge is a kind of wild justice Bacon
Revenge proves its own executioner John Ford

and my favorite
How do you like my Sweet Revenge? Motorhead, 'Sweet Revenge', Bomber

[William_Shakespeare]

Revenge ri-venj - Verb (transitive)

Sweet is revenge - especially to women Byron
Revenge is a kind of wild justice Bacon
Revenge proves its own executioner John Ford

and my favorite
How do you like my Sweet Revenge? Motorhead, 'Sweet Revenge', Bomber

Murder's out of tune,
And sweet revenge grows harsh.
(Othello 1602)

Bacon precedeth me I agree,
But hardly so eloquently.

[El Gordo]

Revenge is a noun. I don't think I've ever heard it used as a verb. You'd normally use "avenge" to 'verbify' it.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Revenge is a noun. I don't think I've ever heard it used as a verb. You'd normally use "avenge" to 'verbify' it.

According to my trusty Guide to Grammar the verb revenge should be used when the subject is one's self, as in: He vowed to revenge himself on his enemies what for what they had done to him.

The verb avenge should be used when the subject of the verb is acting on behalf of someone else, as in: He vowed to avenge his father's death.

However it does acknowledge the difference is slight, and that revenge is rarely used as a verb.

Gosh grammar is boring.

[El Gordo]

He vowed to revenge himself on his enemies .... .

Crikey, that is a rarity.

Gosh grammar is boring.

[/quote]

Well that's a matter of opinion. Personally, I love it, though it's very frustrating because so few people give a toss about it anymore.

But anyway, in the spirit of the question, revenge is definitely a noun in normal usage.

Tally Ho!

[Sweder]

According to Chambers Dictionary it's a transitive verb.
What that is I couldn't begin to tell you, other than to suggest it moves around a fair bit and is extremely dodgy.

I checked with the Cambridge Online and got this:

Definition:
revenge: noun [u]
harm done to someone as a punishment for harm that they have done to someone else: She took/got/exacted (her) revenge on him for leaving her by smashing up his car. He is believed to have been shot by a rival gang in revenge for the shootings last week.

revenge: verb [T]
to harm someone as a punishment for harm that they have done to you:
to revenge a death/defeat/injustice [R] The red team revenged themselves on the blue team by winning the semi-final.

Could this be why that little tinker SP threw this up in the first place?
Frankly I'd like to revenge myself on the swine

[El Gordo]

Well, it looks like we've established that it is technically a verb as well as a noun, but I still don't think I've ever heard it used as the former. The common uses for it e.g. Revenge is a dish best served cold..... She got her revenge the next day... and so on, are nouns.

On the subject of "...nge" words, someone mentioned to me today that "scrounge", at 8 letters, is the longest monosyllabic word in English. Does anyone disagree...?

[Seafront Plodder]

Stick a d on the end...

[El Gordo]

It's a fair cop...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Scratched and strengths are nine letter/monosyllabic words too.

And yeah, I'd like to know what kind of cruel intent SP had in raising the subject - some kind of revenge for the cricket threads?

Speaking of which ... did you guys get the Aust -v- New Zealand Twenty/20 match on pay TV over there? And if so, did you see Ponting score 98 (not out) off 55 balls? It was that good, even the Kiwis liked it... and they hate us, even more than you guys. Which is kind of weird, as half of them live in Queensland

[Sweder]

We invented 20/20 cricket, and you lot claim the first ODI version.
Once a theif . . .

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

We invented 20/20 cricket, and you lot claim the first ODI version.
Once a theif . . .

Hey, if it's sport, we play it. We don't care who invented it

You guys are just slow... you come up with some occasional good ideas and don't do anything with them. That's why your best football teams don't have any Brits in them

And that's "thief" BTW... (after all, this started out as a grammar thread)

[Seafront Plodder]

Anyway, back to grammar...

Scraunched. 10 letters, is the longest monosyllabic word in the english language.

P.S. I cheated a bit.

[Sweder]

And that's "thief" BTW... (after all, this started out as a grammar thread)

Sorry mate, I thought you inverted everything in the Southern Hemisphere.
My mistake

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Scraunched? That sounds disgusting... must be something to do with tennis...