4 ms·

I have to point out here, I think the word you're looking for is "graft".

by Sniffnoy 2y ago

NLips 2y ago
No, it’s “grift”: https://www.wordnik.com/words/grift https://www.wordnik.com/words/grift
- Sniffnoy 2y ago
  No, it's not. "Grift" is a count noun. You can't say "grift is occurring here"; you can say "a grift is occuring here", or "grifts are occurring here", but not just "grift is occurring here". Meanwhile, "graft", in the sense of the abuse of an office for personal gain, is a mass noun and can be used this way. Perhaps the commenter's mistake was leaving out an article rather than using the wrong word? The latter seems more likely to me, however.
o11c 2y ago
Both potentially apply, but it can be hard to prove which: graft = obtain illegally by bribery grift = obtain illegally by trickery
- Sniffnoy 2y ago
  Well the thing to note here is that "grift" is a count noun. (Their definitions as verbs is not what's relevant here!) You can't say "grift is occurring here"; you can say "a grift is occuring here". Meanwhile, "graft", in the sense of the abuse of an office for personal gain, is a mass noun. Perhaps the commenter's mistake was leaving out an article rather than using the wrong word? The latter seems more likely to me, however.
  - miles 2y ago
    > You can't say "grift is occurring here" Sure you can; "grift" can be used as an abstract noun, much like "crime", e.g., "Crime is occurring here" vs. "A crime is occurring here".
    - Sniffnoy 2y ago
      The term you're looking for here is "mass noun" or "uncountable noun", and... well I was going to say "no, it can't", but searching does turn up some uses, so, uh, I guess people are saying that now and I was wrong? It must be pretty new; I'm not seeing it in dictionaries. (Note that just because "crime" can be used as both a count noun and a mass noun doesn't mean "grift" can be! Most nouns are just one or the other, not both. Like Wiktionary has "crime" as both but "grift" as count only. But it seems like this new uncountable sense of "grift" is out there now, so people will have to update the dictionaries...)
      - Sniffnoy 2y ago
        Additional note: I'd still bet that the commenter was conflating the two words, however.

I have to point out here, I think the word you're looking for is "graft".

NLips 2y ago

No, it’s “grift”: https://www.wordnik.com/words/grift https://www.wordnik.com/words/grift

Sniffnoy 2y ago
No, it's not. "Grift" is a count noun. You can't say "grift is occurring here"; you can say "a grift is occuring here", or "grifts are occurring here", but not just "grift is occurring here". Meanwhile, "graft", in the sense of the abuse of an office for personal gain, is a mass noun and can be used this way. Perhaps the commenter's mistake was leaving out an article rather than using the wrong word? The latter seems more likely to me, however.

o11c 2y ago

Both potentially apply, but it can be hard to prove which: graft = obtain illegally by bribery grift = obtain illegally by trickery

Sniffnoy 2y ago
Well the thing to note here is that "grift" is a count noun. (Their definitions as verbs is not what's relevant here!) You can't say "grift is occurring here"; you can say "a grift is occuring here". Meanwhile, "graft", in the sense of the abuse of an office for personal gain, is a mass noun. Perhaps the commenter's mistake was leaving out an article rather than using the wrong word? The latter seems more likely to me, however.
- miles 2y ago
  > You can't say "grift is occurring here" Sure you can; "grift" can be used as an abstract noun, much like "crime", e.g., "Crime is occurring here" vs. "A crime is occurring here".
  - Sniffnoy 2y ago
    The term you're looking for here is "mass noun" or "uncountable noun", and... well I was going to say "no, it can't", but searching does turn up some uses, so, uh, I guess people are saying that now and I was wrong? It must be pretty new; I'm not seeing it in dictionaries. (Note that just because "crime" can be used as both a count noun and a mass noun doesn't mean "grift" can be! Most nouns are just one or the other, not both. Like Wiktionary has "crime" as both but "grift" as count only. But it seems like this new uncountable sense of "grift" is out there now, so people will have to update the dictionaries...)
    - Sniffnoy 2y ago
      Additional note: I'd still bet that the commenter was conflating the two words, however.