You Must Be From Away

Edmund of Langley: Tut, tut! 
Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle:
I am no traitor’s uncle.

But nouning verbs really gets my goat.

“That’s a big ask”

“Not a good look”

And especially this classic.

“Sorry I’m late – couldn’t find a park”

I thought he meant that he was trying politely topolitely (bloody split infinitives…) infer that he was looking for a tree to pee behind.

But no – he couldn’t find a parking space.

So when I saw this headline in the Nelson Mail (the above examples are all New Zealand patois), I immediately thought that someone had asked their neighbours in advance for permission to leave a car somewhere.

But it really was all about a

park n. An area of land set aside for public use.

Confusing….