3. Adjectives are used as nouns:—We may say ‘a round table,’ or, ‘a round’ of visits; a ‘green’ tree, or to play on ‘the green;’ a ‘beautiful’ prospect, or a love for ‘the beautiful.’ And not only can we use the adjective as a noun; we may even give it a plural form. We often speak of ‘eatables and drinkables.’ A man may have a fit of the ‘dismals,’ or the ‘blues;’ or he may be anxious about his ‘goods,’ ‘moveables,’ or ‘valuables,’ &c.
4. Adjectives are frequently used as verbs:—as, a ‘clear’ way, or to ‘clear’ the way; a ‘long’ distance, or to ‘long’ for something; a ‘still’ evening, or to ‘still’ the waves, &c.
5. Comparative adjectives are occasionally used as verbs; as ‘a better’ condition, or, ‘to better’ our condition; a ‘lower’ state, or to ‘lower’ a rope; ‘further’ remarks, or ‘to further’ a design; ‘utter’ nonsense, or ‘to utter’ opinions, &c.
6. Personal pronouns may be used as nouns: as, ‘A downright she‘—(Byron.) ‘Left to be finished by such a she.’—(Shakspere.)
7. Conjunctions are frequently used as nouns; as, ‘But me no buts’ How many ‘thats’ are there in the sentence? ‘Let us have no more ifs and ands,’ &c.
8. Prepositions may be used in like manner: as, The ins and outs of life. The ‘ups and downs’ of fortune, &c.
9. Even adverbs are sometimes constructed as nouns; as:—Which are in the majority; the ‘ayes,’ or the ‘noes?’
This extraordinary plasticity of English applies particularly to nouns signifying parts of the body. There is scarcely one of these which may not be turned into a verb. For example, we commonly hear that a man ‘faces’ his difficulties with courage. Hamlet says of Polonius, ‘You may nose him in the lobby.’ In Shakspere’s ‘Tempest’ we may read, ‘Full many a lady I have eyed with best regard.’
To jaw is sometimes used, though not very elegantly, in the sense of to chatter or scold. We often hear of a man ‘elbowing’ his way through a crowd, and Goldsmith’s ‘Deserted Village’ gives us ‘Shouldered his arms, and showed how fields were won.’
To ‘hand’ a plate, and to ‘finger’ a passage on the piano, are everyday expressions. We also frequently hear of a coachman ‘backing’ his horses, and Shakspere has ‘to foot it featly.’ Besides these, may be noticed ‘to thumb the leaves of a book’; to ‘breast the waves;’ ‘to palm off (for to cheat or deceive);’ to side with a party; and to head an expedition. To these may be added ‘to bone’ a fowl; ‘to skin’ a rabbit, and many others. It may be reasonably doubted whether this power exists to anything like the same extent in the continental languages.