Re: USAGE: 'born'

David Peterson wrote:

> In a message dated 5/9/01 10:00:58 PM, dnsulani@INTER.NET.IL writes:
>
> << "Phonix is a boomtown where nearly a quarter
>
> of the children live in poverty.
>
>     If there's any one thing that distinguishes Phoenix,
>
> it's that the city is still becoming. There may be arguments
>
> as to what it's becoming..." >>
>
>     This only proves my argument, that "becoming" is supposed to mean
> "attractive", and that they're using that word to form a pun.  How could
> anyone possibly think that "becoming" is being used seriously as a verb?!
> There's absolutely no way!
I disagree.  I'm a native English speaker, and I wouldn't think twice about the
author's use of "becoming" as a verb (in the sense of "changing").  The
possibility that it might be a pun would never have occurred to me in a million
years.

Matt.

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