After a recent visit to the doctor's office, I was asked to fill out a survey on my "patient experience." One question read, "Was the person who roomed you courteous and helpful?"

For a moment, I was perplexed. I wasn't aware that anyone had roomed me (a process that didn't sound like a lot of fun). Then I wondered whether someone had roomed WITH me during the visit. (I certainly hadn't noticed anyone but the doctor in the exam room, but, then again, I hadn't checked the closet.)

Finally, I got it. The question was asking about the nurse who had led me to the exam room (who was, indeed, very courteous and helpful).

"Room," of course, can be used as an intransitive verb, as in "Ishmael roomed with Queequeg at the Spouter Inn." But its use as a transitive verb — to guide or place someone in a room — was new to me. Well, not entirely new; a substitute teacher once told me she had arrived in the classroom to find this event on her daily schedule: "10. a.m. — bathroom the children."

Of course, English has been turning nouns into verbs for nearly a thousand years. We're so accustomed to using words such as "shovel," "weather," "handle," "pocket" and "silence" as verbs, that we tend to forget they were once nouns.

But, when a new verb suddenly emerges from the cocoon of nounhood and starts flying around the language, we often wish it would buzz off. Sometimes it's because there's already a perfectly good verb with that meaning. Why do we need the verbs "author," "reference" and "conference," when we already have "write," "refer" and "confer"?

And often the new verb smacks of jargon, e.g., "She will office on the seventh floor"; "I'll calendar that meeting"; "let's dialogue about the project." Ugh!

But let's face it: Some converted nouns are handy. It's simply easier to say, "I Ubered," "she'll guest the show," and "he medaled," than it is to say, "I took an Uber," "she'll be a guest on the show," and "he won a medal."

And some newly converted (and oft-derided) verbs, such as "gift" for "give," "solution" for "solve," and "showcase" for "show," are useful because they convey meanings slightly different from their established counterparts. "To gift" connotes willful generosity, not just handing something over; "to solution a problem" is to seek a solution, not necessarily solve it; "to showcase" is to highlight something, not just show it.

So, hats off to those who gift us, showcase us and, yes, even room us!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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