Hacker News Reader

The article mentions that 'In some parts of England, you’d hear people use a phrase on the model of verbing: “The wine needs opening.”'

Is 'needs verbing' really that uncommon? 'Needs fixing' seems like a very common expression that fits that pattern. I guess the article might be trying to say that in some areas of England 'needs verbing' is the default form but I'm still a bit confused by that sentence.

View on HN

It really depends on the tense. I'm from Texas and "needs fixing" sounds completely normal (although it sounds even more natural as "needs fixin'"), while "needs fixed" is awkward as heck.

-ing is interchangeable here in Australia with to be -ed

e.g. "the roses need pruning" vs "the roses need to be pruned"

Yet there's a formality typical in passive aggressive notes of using the 'to be -ed' syntax. Further, one only need apply 'to be' once with several actions

"dishes need to be washed, dried and put away".

Maybe -ed emphasizes the completed state vs continuous -ing focusing on the event of doing the action. e.g. opening sparkling wine with a popping cork is part of the occasion.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com