Herman pointed out to me last night on the chat that "Sortie" was a noun and that I was yet another American "butchering" the English language.

 

Yes H, it is a noun but, per dictionary.com, can also be used correctly as an intransitive verb (see below "sortieing").

 

sor·tie (sôr'tÄ“, sôr-tÄ“') Pronunciation Key

n.

An armed attack, especially one made from a place surrounded by enemy forces.

A flight of a combat aircraft on a mission.

 

intr.v. sor·tied, sor·tie·ing, sor·ties

To go on a sortie.

 

 

[French, from feminine past participle of sortir, to go out, from Old French.]

 

You Sir, stand corrected.

 

dictionary.com's sortie

Sounds like it's a contemporary addition.

 

Just like usage of the word, "access". It's a noun, but through continuous improper usage (by folks who can't speak the Queen's English), it's now used as a verb, too. So, instead of just having "access to" something, you now "access" it.

 

Just because a large number of people use something improperly, doesn't mean that it is or should be right. Otherwise, we'd all be speaking "goo-goo" and "gaa-gaa".

 

This reminds me of a Harpoon Classic scenario that pitted the English-Speaking Community against all others. The scenario had an alliance of former British Commonwealth countries and the US against most others. It was pretty interesting. I hope that I can get it re-built for Harpoon3 soon. Then we can settle this like "Men" on the electron seas, blasting each other with electronic Harpoon and AMRAAM!