On the proper use of 'service' as a verb

[Puppycow]

Hi grammarians, grammar nazis and plain old pedants.

So I came across this usage in a Gizmodo article about high-speed trains, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. Am I right? Here's the sentence:

In Japan, their high-speed trains service over 150 million people a year.

Why not just plain 'serve'? Why use 'service' as a verb here?

I mean, I understand that one takes one's car to a mechanic to be 'serviced', not 'served', but other than that and a few other contexts I won't get into here, people are to be 'served', not 'serviced'.

 

[AlaskaBushPilot]

Japanese toilets only spray water on your rear end. The trains pull your intestines out for a complete cleaning and inspection for polyps and other irregularities before re-installation. So "servicing" fits the bill.

 

[lionking]

It's crept into corporate speak big time in Australia. I hear "how should we service (customer)" all the time. I detest such sloppy usage, but I am a pedant....

 

[Joey McGee]

If I told my colleagues "Hey I'm gonna go service that guy" to everyone in the room it would sound like I'm going to blow him. This is why no one uses that word like that anymore around here.

 

[Puppycow]

If I told my colleagues "Hey I'm gonna go service that guy" to everyone in the room it would sound like I'm going to blow him. This is why no one uses that word like that anymore around here.

Well, I did mention that there were other contexts, but I didn't want to be indelicate.

 

[stevea]

verb
1.
perform routine maintenance or repair work on (a vehicle or machine).
"have your car serviced regularly"
synonyms: tune-up, maintenance check, servicing, overhaul [...]
2.
(of a male animal) mate with (a female animal).

Either way that HS train fare is quite a value.

 

[Joey McGee]

Ha, yeah I guess I glossed over that part because a deep part of my brain needed to say those words. I think the usage is fine, it's just been ruined by the people who write those weird stories in Penthouse. (I haven't even seen a skin mag in years)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/there-is-no-proper-english-1426258286


There Is No ‘Proper English’
Never mind the grammar scolds. If people say it, it’s the right way to speak

Accidence Will Happen: The Non-Pedantic Guide to English Usage
http://www.amazon.com/Accidence-Will-Happen-Non-Pedantic-English-ebook/dp/B00J8K6J3U

Steven Pinker turned me onto this Kamm guy, I can't argue.

 

[commandlinegamer]

The same article also uses "train station" and "customers". Ugh.

 

[angrysoba]

It's crept into corporate speak big time in Australia. I hear "how should we service (customer)" all the time. I detest such sloppy usage, but I am a pedant....

You are not a pedant; you are wrong.

The use of the word "service" to mean "provide someone with a service" has been used since at least the 19th Century.

provide something
service something/somebody to provide people with something they need, such as shops/stores, or a transport system
synonym serve
Botley is well serviced by a regular bus route into Oxford.
This department services the international sales force (= provides services for it).

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/service_2

Here's an example that came from that Australian corporate manual, Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The same article also uses "train station" and "customers". Ugh.

There's no problem with those either.

 

[angrysoba]

Ha, yeah I guess I glossed over that part because a deep part of my brain needed to say those words. I think the usage is fine, it's just been ruined by the people who write those weird stories in Penthouse. (I haven't even seen a skin mag in years)



Accidence Will Happen: The Non-Pedantic Guide to English Usage
http://www.amazon.com/Accidence-Will-Happen-Non-Pedantic-English-ebook/dp/B00J8K6J3U

Steven Pinker turned me onto this Kamm guy, I can't argue.

I've read bits and pieces of Kamm for some time. He's an editor of the Times.

I liked the way he destroyed Simon Heffer in this debate.

However, I take issue with him on his agreement with Pinker's Language Instinct and Chomsky's Universal Grammar - but that's a bugbear of mine for another thread.

 

[Ladewig]

Ha, yeah I guess I glossed over that part because a deep part of my brain needed to say those words. I think the usage is fine, it's just been ruined by the people who write those weird stories in Penthouse. (I haven't even seen a skin mag in years)



Accidence Will Happen: The Non-Pedantic Guide to English Usage
http://www.amazon.com/Accidence-Will-Happen-Non-Pedantic-English-ebook/dp/B00J8K6J3U

Steven Pinker turned me onto this Kamm guy, I can't argue.

So, what's the deal with the title?

 

[Joey McGee]

So, what's the deal with the title?

The title of this book encapsulates my reasoning. It's taken from the English edition of Asterix the Gaul. The indomitable Gaul has just bashed some Roman legionaries. One of the Romans says, dazedly: 'Vae victo, vae victis.' Another observes: 'We decline.' The caption above this scene of destruction reads: 'Accidence will happen.'

You have to believe me that this is funny. The first legionary's Latin phrase means: 'Woe to the one who has been vanquished, woe to those who have been vanquished.' The scene is a riff on grammar. It was made up by Anthea Bell, the English translator of the Asterix books. She is my mother and I have stolen her joke. I'll render it leaden by explaining why it appeals to me. Victo is the dative singular and victis is the dative plural. The legionary is literally declining, in the grammatical sense. The aspect of grammar that deals with declension and conjugation is called accidence.

I typed this out for you by hand. Ha! No I googled a phrase from the section and found 1 single excerpt at this interesting site, bitsofbooks.com (http://www.bitsofbooks.com/accidence.html)

You don't need to say much; you don't have to lie. Most people aren't going to interrogate you to test whether you read the whole thing; mostly they are going to be impressed that you know something useful.

This site currently has highlights and excerpts from over 1000 books that are worth talking about today.

 

[fuelair]

Hi grammarians, grammar nazis and plain old pedants.

So I came across this usage in a Gizmodo article about high-speed trains, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. Am I right? Here's the sentence:



Why not just plain 'serve'? Why use 'service' as a verb here?

I mean, I understand that one takes one's car to a mechanic to be 'serviced', not 'served', but other than that and a few other contexts I won't get into here, people are to be 'served', not 'serviced'.

Cannibals certainly serve people!!!!!

 

[angrysoba]

Cannibals certainly serve people!!!!!

That's actually a good point. For those who complain that serve should always be the verb, the use of the word service actually cuts down on the ambiguity.

 

[fuelair]

Well, I did mention that there were other contexts, but I didn't want to be indelicate.

To be or not to be....indelicate? That is a question!!!

 

[Minoosh]

Cannibals certainly serve people!!!!!

And clowns taste funny ...

 

[dellarte]

I used to use serve.

 

[Ladewig]

The title of this book encapsulates my reasoning. It's taken from the English edition of Asterix the Gaul. The indomitable Gaul has just bashed some Roman legionaries. One of the Romans says, dazedly: 'Vae victo, vae victis.' Another observes: 'We decline.' The caption above this scene of destruction reads: 'Accidence will happen.'

You have to believe me that this is funny. The first legionary's Latin phrase means: 'Woe to the one who has been vanquished, woe to those who have been vanquished.' The scene is a riff on grammar. It was made up by Anthea Bell, the English translator of the Asterix books. She is my mother and I have stolen her joke. I'll render it leaden by explaining why it appeals to me. Victo is the dative singular and victis is the dative plural. The legionary is literally declining, in the grammatical sense. The aspect of grammar that deals with declension and conjugation is called accidence.

)

Ha, ha. That's pretty funny.

 

[GlennB]

Either way that HS train fare is quite a value.

Ooooh, I hope you're being ironic there. I so hate that use of "a value" to mean "a bargain"

 

[Spektator]

(snip)


Here's an example that came from that Australian corporate manual, Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

No, from Catriona.