“Foments” is a Transitive Verb
September 21st, 2020 by G.
Rant.
Pulp writers, foment is a transitive verb. If you want to purple up your prose, purple it up right!
I’m sick of reading breathless ominous descriptions that say “treason foments.” No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You can have a sallow, evil-eyed priest fomenting treason; or a waddling aristocrat with tiny eyes buried in his porcine face and sybaritic jewels flashing on each wabbling finger, he could be fomenting treason. But treason doesn’t foment. If you want to write in the bedamned half-passive intransitive, write manuals.
E.C.
September 21, 2020
Indeed, I agree with you. If you want to use fancy words to get your point across, know how to use them.
Bookslinger
September 21, 2020
I nominate G to preside over the “Court of Peeves, Crotchets and Irks.”
https://townhall.com/columnists/jamesjkilpatrick/2007/01/02/court-of-peeves,-now-in-session-n1219639
Wm Jas Tychonievich
September 22, 2020
Where on earth did you see that? Google turns up only three hits for “treason foments”; one is this post, and the other two are grammatical (“He plans no treason, foments no revolt,” for example).
G.
September 22, 2020
I believe the actual example that set me off was ‘revolution foments.’ I don’t believe your search engines will find them, though. I read lots of pulpy light fiction and therefore lots of luridly-purple book descriptions.
Update: there are quite a few “revolution foments” on the web.
G.
September 22, 2020
I suspect those folks are associating “foment” with “ferment,” which you can use transitively or intransitively