Today, in my cat meme folder, I found a fabulous example of something English does that has fascinated me for years: agent nouns.
The basic definition is (take your pick – this one’s from Collins Dictionary) a noun denoting the doer of an action, as editor or jogger.
You add the suffix –er to a verb (or, as we shall see, lots of other things) to denote the person or being that performs the action.
Gardener teacher swimmer sailor driver hacker influencer (but cook – where cooker is the appliance – this one naturally caused total bemusement/hilarity in TEFL classes, back in the day. Especially when you had a chef in your beginners class).
Then there are the ones that refer to provenance or residence (demonyms): New Yorker, Londoner, HongKonger.
It’s also used for groups or communities: YouTubers, Instagrammers, Substackers.
But then it gets really interesting.
First-grader, gen-X-er, Quantum-Shifters, baby-boomers
In fact, looks like you can add –er to almost anything.
Hall-of-famers
A-listers
Alt-righters
9/11 truthers
Home-schoolers
One-per-cent-ers
Work-at-homers
Empty-nesters
Anti-GMO-ers
Anti-vaxxers
Flat-earthers
Tin-foil-hatters
Climate-deniers
Spontaneous-remitters
Do-it-yourselfers - or DYI-ers!
You can add it to initialisms too: NDE-ers are people who’ve had a Near-Death experience, OBE-ers those who’ve had Out-Of-Body experiences, and ADHD-ers are people with ADHD… Yay!
That’s why I was so stoked to find the cat meme.
I’d love to see your own findings and/or creations so please share in the comments.
First off, I love that you have a cat meme folder (of course you do 😆).
Secondly, I always learn something new or think about something differently, when I read ‘Stuff English Does’
And thirdly … These cats are sooo funny and very cute 🐾