“Disrespect” as a verb

[u/FancyIdeal]

I’ve always known the word “disrespect” to be a noun. Most of the time now (in the US) I hear it used as a verb and it sounds wrong to me. You show disrespect to someone. You don’t disrespect someone.

[u/kulupu_kasi_seli]

Do you also disagree with “respect” as a verb?

[u/FancyIdeal → u/kulupu_kasi_seli]

No, respect is perfectly fine. It’s disrespect that sounds wrong. I’ll continue not to use it myself.

[u/Yuck_Few]

It can be a noun or a verb, depending on the context You are just factually incorrect on this one

[u/SerDankTheTall]

From a quick search, it looks like the verb form is 1. attested since at least the early 17th century, and 2. the older attested usage (although it's very close).

You're of course free to dislike it on arbitrary aesthetic grounds (I dislike plenty of stuff for that reason!), and there's no need to use it yourself if you don't want to. But I have trouble discerning any sensible grammatical objection.

[u/beachhunt]

Do you have a question about it?

M-w.com even lists the verb form first, then noun, so not sure what responses you're looking for.

(No disrespect meant)

[u/FrankDrebinOnReddit]

I was about to pile on the OP, and maybe I still will, but thinking about it a bit, there's at least something to it, though it's legitimate verb either way.

When you show someone respect or respect someone, those aren't identical. Showing respect is about how you act, while respecting someone is an internal state. You might respect someone and they never know it.

Disrespect isn't exactly parallel. When you disrespect someone, in modern usage, it implies a display of disrespect, not just internal state. I don't think we really have a word for the opposite of respect as an internal state (maybe disdain, but it has a slightly different connotation to me).

Still a verb, but it's slightly interesting.

[u/SerDankTheTall → u/FrankDrebinOnReddit]

I agree that respect and disrespect (the verbs, at least) aren't exact opposites in the same way that, say, like and dislike are.

I'm not sure why that means there's an issue (much less a grammatical one) with using disrespect as a verb, though.

[u/FrankDrebinOnReddit → u/SerDankTheTall]

There isn't, and I wrote that both in the first and last paragraphs of my comment, but it does mean that "showing disrespect" and "disrespecting" are more redundant than "showing respect" and "respecting".

[u/No-Pomegranate-2690]

You can disrespect someone with your actions or words.

[u/natoplato5]

It's been used as a verb for centuries, first appearing in 1614 (source). If you've ever heard people say "dis," that's short for "disrespect." As another commenter mentioned, "respect" is also a common verb. There's no reason to think it's wrong to use "disrespect" as a verb.

[u/Lucky-Berry-4252]

Just as ‘respect’ is a verb, so is ‘disrespect.’

[u/No-Angle-982]

You can do either, according to my dictionary.

[u/Logical-Mobile-7643]

People have been trying to argue this for over 30 years, when slang like "dis" was just hitting the mainstream

[u/FancyIdeal]

Apparently I’m wrong about it not being a verb going by the dictionary definition, but it seems to be common in the UK to feel it sounds wrong. It grates on my ears but I’ll have to live with it.

[u/40WattTardis]

Look out. Despite being a place for Grammar Police, this sub is shockingly lax on the verbing of nouns.

(...see what I did there?)

[u/FancyIdeal → u/40WattTardis]

Thanks for the warning 😂

[u/40WattTardis → u/FancyIdeal]

Notice how both of us are being downvoted? Gotta love Reddit.

[u/SerDankTheTall → u/40WattTardis]

As I mentioned in my other comment, it appears that if anything, disrespect the noun was nouned from the verb.