Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 December 7

= December 7 =

Which programming languages allow trailing commas?
Moved to Computing desk Tevildo (talk) 09:12, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Do Story
In sentences like 'everyone does story one way or another', what does that mean? To tell a story? Everyone has a story? I don't understand the structure of the phrase. Thanks for any lead. Omidinist (talk) 13:20, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Do you have a full paragraph in which that statement appears? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:24, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
 * "Unlike other leisure activities -- such as quilting, gambling, or sports -- everyone does story in one form or another. We do story even under the worst conditions, even during war." Omidinist (talk) 13:51, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
 * In the context it's taken from, it's evidently an ad hoc formation made up by that author. Everybody likes to zero-derivation once in a while. It just funs, and somehow clevers your diction. Here, it's clearly intended to mean "be interested in stories", "consume stories", or maybe also "tell stories". Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:18, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Now that just weirds language. —Tamfang (talk) 01:33, 9 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia indicates that story is (or, at least, has been) a verb. The references given (Shakespeare and John Wilkins) may imply that it is archaic.  Maybe somebody can check the OED for more precise data.  It is possible that this usage - i.e. "to story" as a verb - is maintained by literary scholars in a generic meaning (as mentioned above).  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 08:56, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, the OED has "story" as a verb since 1449, but with recent cites including The Guardian in 2004. It does comment "now somewhat archaic".    D b f i r s   21:22, 9 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I didn't read "story" as a verb here, and didn't read "we do story" and "everyone does story" as emphases of "we story" and "everyone stories", but as an uncountable noun (the chapter is titled "The witchery of story" too, not "The witchery of stories" or "The witchery of a/the story"). Sort of like "everyone does cocaine in one way or another, we do cocaine even under the worst conditions". It's still an unorthodox use of the word "story", of course. ---Sluzzelin talk  09:34, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
 * "I don't do stories" is a perfectly acceptable reply at a bar when a girl asks you about your life, but it needs to be plural. The singular is odd. KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( もしもし！ ) 13:02, 8 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Probably unrelated, but Hawaiian slang (labeled as "pidgin" on this page) contains the phrase "talk story" with the meaning "To chat or gossip. To reminisce with friends." -- LarryMac  | Talk  18:15, 8 December 2015 (UTC)


 * I saw it as a kind of poetic usage, not unlike "He lied to us through song. I hate when people do that". People nowadays talk of "doing lunch", "doing due diligence" and  "I don't do ".  Why not "doing story"? According to this message from Doctor Faust, doing story is the real deal - it's authentic.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  20:28, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Good reference, this last one. Many thanks for all comments. All enlightening. Omidinist (talk) 08:29, 9 December 2015 (UTC)