Does Something “Live” Where it Belongs?

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

And Grant, I need some marital counseling. I hope you can help me out here.

Oh, no. You guys are so cute together.

Well, yes, for the most part, we are. But there’s this one thing, this one, I know I’m not supposed to peeve about language, but there’s this one thing that my wife does. She’ll talk about, oh, yeah, the flashlight lives on that table over there. Or the peanut butter lives in that cabinet. You know, where’s the peanut butter? Oh, it’s in the cabinet where it always lives.

You’re not fond of that verb, to live, meaning that’s where it stays, that’s where it belongs?

Yeah, not if it’s an inanimate object.

Are you peeping?

How dare you? I know we preach against that all the time, but every time she says—sometimes you can’t help it.

Well, of course, it’s good-natured kidding, but I always make the argument, it’s not alive. But I don’t know. I mean, of course, the point here is that you can’t break down the English language too far or you’ll drive yourself nuts, right?

That’s right. The idiomatic expression to say that something lives on a shelf, meaning it belongs there or that’s where it stays, is comprehensible, whether or not it annoys you. It’s also grammatical. It’s syntactically and semantically valid.

Okay. Now it’s your turn to order dinner, Martha.

We would love to hear about those funny little language disputes that you have with your spouse. The ones where you kind of let off a little pressure on the relationship, on the nonsense of life.

Let us know what you’re discussing about language. 877-929-9673 in Canada and the United States. Email words@waywordradio.org. And if you want to talk to us on social media, we’ve got a dozen ways to reach us on our website. Also at waywordradio.org.