No one likes the task. This is not surprising, since the definitions we give to this noun include “a job normally assigned to normally be completed within a certain time”, “subject to adverse criticism”. ” and “something difficult or unpleasant to get done. You’ll rarely hear someone talk about the “lovely assignment” they’ve just been assigned. But some people are not satisfied with not liking the word based on its semantic content and have gained an additional bad reputation for using it as a verb.
Could have sworn that there was something else we had to do…
It is not clear exactly why this distaste for the transitive verb form of mission happened. Some possibilities are that it’s considered new, it’s business jargon, or it’s often used in the passive voice. Prohibitions on verbs are rarely found in usage and style guides, and when they are encountered, a few seem to take them very seriously.
task is not a verb.— The telegraph type book; The Official Guide to House Styles for The Daily Telegraph(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/style-book/t/)
Ronald Koeman is tasked with revitalizing the mediocre Dutch national team and his own managerial career— (title) Daily telegram (London, UK), March 22, 2018
A unit of US special forces tasked with carrying out “decapitation” operations may be on board a nuclear-powered submarine docked in the South Korean port of Busan, the national news agency reported. reported Monday, citing a defense source.— Daily telegram (London, UK), October 17, 2017
Pippa Grange, 47, has been tasked with changing the culture and mindset of England’s teams, and strengthening their “psychological resilience” to the pressure of winning important matches.…— Daily telegram (London, UK), January 4, 2018
Mission is not a new verb. In fact, it has been around since the 14th century, used to mean “to give a task”. It also has an old-fashioned meaning of “imposition of taxes” and a modern addition of “oppression by hard labour”. The word has shown an increase in late usage, especially in business writing (a form of English that many people dislike), but be assigned to do sth with something commonly used in the military since at least the 1960s.
A comprehensive handbook covering the topics of welfare organization, wages and allowances, allocation, travel, household goods transportation, overseas duty stations, farewell to the disabled, leave retirement, promotions, re-enlistment benefits, medical care, survivor benefits – and more – will answer the questions and prayers of those assigned to this additional assignment. — skin neck (Quantico, VA), October 1963
The platoon was tasked with conducting a two-week platoon-level sweep between Hue and Da Nang with the goal of eliminating all enemy forces within the Hue-Da Nang axis, the jungle as well as Highway One. — Marines GazetteMay 1970
The 252nd Airborne Transport-Refueling Squadron is responsible for transporting Yuma’s food.— skin neck (Quantico, VA), July 1971
This particular phrase is not of military origin and can sometimes be seen in much earlier examples.
The establishment involved enormous costs and responsibility, and was tasked with conveying not only intelligence, but also enormous amounts of exchange.— The National Register of Niles (Baltimore, MD), December 19, 1846
I haven’t been able to write a single line this week, as I’m on every committee responsible for welcoming and entertaining Benjamin Harrison, the President of the United States.— American Israeli (Cincinnati, OH), May 7, 1891
We’re fine if you want to avoid using the passive voice in your writing, and we don’t have a problem with you avoiding the passive voice either. mission as a verb. But any decent person should have a solid foundation, and say mission not a missing verb in that regard. Maybe you could go with the old standby of “I just hate that word.”
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
