On the verbing of nouns and other crimes against erudition

[mcroft]

The Chicago Sun-Times has steadily efforted to chip away at the pedestal on which supporters and the media have placed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), the perch from which he happily mulls a run for the White House.

--TPM Muckraker

Dear TPM Muckraker,
Regardless of the substance of the comment you make or the substance of the efforts by the Chicago Sun-Times, the above sentence is a dreadful mess. Please substitute a more reputable verb, consider the advantages of using more than one sentence, and don't needlessly mix the perch/pedestal metaphors.

No love,
Me

Comments

[badnewswade.livejournal.com]

Hey congrats! If you type "verbing of nouns" into Wikipedia this entry comes up in fifth place!

The verbing of nouns really pisses me off. Recently I was talking to a councellor and she said she could "signpost me to the resources I was looking for". WTF?!?! I don't want to be "signposted"!!! HEEELP! Who the hell invented this moronic 1984 office speek? Does someone sit around composing it or do they make it up on their own?

There needs to be some kind of campaign against this kind of crap. Isn't there some society that promotes the proper use of the English language?