obsesses over

21:14 Aug 11, 2013 

Item obviously & inspiringly long settled, but cf. 'spoilsporting' which seems a similar (usage) development. Is there a noun-to-verbal-noun trend, maybe worth a ProZ glossary?
Best, all round/ S.

19:17 Dec 31, 2011 

I've only just seen Hilary's idea, which is absolutely superb, and if your clients don't agree, Chris, they must be mad! This is the sort of thing that really makes ProZ worthwhile. A very Happy New Year to all.

18:35 Dec 31, 2011 

Thank you to everybody for your participation in what I thought was a very fruitful and interesting discussion. We hardly need proof, but it does show that despite the growth of US/international English in general commerce, there are also areas where it is perhaps wise to ask questions. Hence my questions! Whilst I was merely posing questions rather than seeking an alternative and this is a 'not-for-points' entry, I still have to decide upon which was most helpful. Here, I simply must hand the bouquet to Hilary with a flourish. Her proposal knocked my socks off and I shall pass it on to my client as a feasible alternative. An excellent way to close the year! Thanks again and all the best to you for 2012, Chris

14:00 Dec 31, 2011 

Thank you. The articles/text seem(s) to be meant very positive in any case, yes? I think in this automotive context and with the (possibly) auto-fanatic readers, the word is more than okay, but please look at my comments as "guest" comments :) Happy 2012!

10:35 Dec 31, 2011 

@Bernhard: To clarify: A magazine that is produced to promote/sell a specific marque (brand) of car. This *car manufacturer* happens to sponsor a particular *F1 team* (although it does not build the*F1 cars*, which - like others - are a hotchpotch of bits). This issue of the magazine writes about the F1 team as a *brand*' in itself (e.g. Williams or whoever). I hope that clarifies the situation.

05:33 Dec 31, 2011 

If it's for this year's winning team, it sounds more like a compliment, an homage to their hard work, with a possible wink. :) But you call it automotive brand - a car one can buy, not just a F1 team? Well, maybe a top F1 team/car brand.
As far as usage of obsess over is concerned, I don't hear it that much but it's used, no doubt about it.

17:35 Dec 30, 2011 

Ha! I thought there was something fishy about those shoes... Quite possibly an American copywriter, then, and perhaps they're actually selling to Americans who fancy pretending to be English gentlemen. Who knows?

The first time I remember encountering "obsess over" (or possibly "obsess about") was in Bridget Jones's Diary, referring to women obsessing over men. It's quite often used in that context, I think, at least in Britain.

16:58 Dec 30, 2011 

Interim @Charles. Thanks for having dug deep with your OED research and the website research! Nevertheless, I should in fact point out that whilst this suggests that such ostensibly august parlance would appeal to Etonians both old and new, the company is not quite that Dickensian, having been founded by US Ivy League hitech lastmaster Nathan Brown! http://www.xtrahost.co.uk/2011/06/case-study-lodger-footwear...
@Lesley This is a one-off issue of premium automotive marque magazine and its content is devoted to the F1 team that it sponsors. I don't really see much of an age divide.

16:38 Dec 30, 2011 

Two nations divided by a common language. Particularly apt in this case, but age could well be a factor, which is what Charles might be observing in the changes he sees in BE. I shudder to think that the English might be adopting our lingo, but marketing and a few other business areas often have a decidedly American emphasis, at least in terms of what is in demand in Germany.

16:29 Dec 30, 2011 

This is an interesting discussion with a transatlantic divide and possibly also an age divide, in the light of Charles' last comment. Perhaps this expression will be ok if it's targeted at a younger audience rather than dinosaurs like me!

16:20 Dec 30, 2011 

Perhaps I was overstating my case back there, and I agree with everything you say. The cultural aspects of humo(u)r are endlessly fascinating and highly elusive. Language usage certain does change with amazing speed, and this is emphatically true of current British English. I have lived outside the UK for the past 15 years, though I go back pretty often, and there are expressions I was barely aware of in 1996, or had never heard at all, that are now mainstream, at least among the young.

The question of hyperbole, which Hilary raises, is interesting. The British still do, generally, prefer things more understated, I think, but here again the difference seems less marked than it once was. I suppose that in marketing you have to use the language your market wants and expects rather than the language you yourself would prefer to use.

We are all free to avoid using new expressions we dislike, but we can't stop other people using them if they want to. My line on this is that if an expression is useful it will survive, and many we now take for granted were once controversial novelties.

15:59 Dec 30, 2011 

As a Brit living in the USA, I notice this sort of thing a lot. "Fanatical service", "obsess over", etc - constructs that many Brits would consider hyperbole and even verging on the tasteless. The tendency for exaggeration is pronounced, and, as someone else has mentioned, the implication is that the company is willing to sacrifice their sanity and health to kowtow to the customer. Not my cup of tea at all, but when I used to work in a marketing department, my protests fell on deaf ears...

15:41 Dec 30, 2011 

I claim no expertise in BE, only my own language and culture, and can only speak from my perspective (which, I believe, is as it should be in our profession). So you are entitled to your point of view, which may not be the same as mine. Secondly, I am not talking about advertising language in particular, but about how "to obsess over sth." is used in the context of our specific sense of humor in general, which is not the same as yours. My interest in the cultural aspects of humor go back to my days at university when I was studying dramatic literature in several languages, and has carried over to the fact that I now live in a second culture (my mother's), which makes fascinating study. I have no issue with your conclusions. Language usage changes constantly, so I emphasized it was my opinion only, to be taken for what it is. PS. I appreciate your point of view, and hearing that it has become more acceptable in BE usage, by the way.

15:34 Dec 30, 2011 

To answer Textklick's question, yes, while you were asleep, lots of new words were born, some died quickly and quietly and some made it to maturity, at least in the USA.
It is quite a common phrase in the USA, but I tend to put it into the same category as words like 'impact' (as a VERB!) or 'liaise' (as a verb, which I understand is chiefly British usage but is making inroads here in the USA). These are words that I read (or hear) on occasion, know what they mean, but would never use myself. However, I do not obsess over them :)
Keep in mind, other languages change with time, too. When I learned German, 'ver-' in front of a verb meant to screw it up. For example, verbauen meant to install poorly or incorrectly. Now, however, I am seeing it all the time in technical texts where it clearly means install {correctly}. The only constant is change.

15:31 Dec 30, 2011 

I can't resist adding an example (OK, I know one swallow doesn't make a summer) of "obsess over" in British marketing material, for a product that is about as patrician as one could imagine: Dalmore Balmoral Brogue shoes, a snip at £550 a pair [!!]:

"At Lodger, we think about the small details as much as we obsess over the shoes. That's why every pair of Lodger shoes comes with bespoke shoe trees, specially designed bamboo shoe bags, photo ID tags, and a unique storage box. Details other shoe companies either charge for or don't offer at all."
http://www.lodgerfootwear.com/som/dalmore-balmoral-brogue-01...

The last thing these people would have wished to do was to give it an American touch, and they haven't.

15:21 Dec 30, 2011 

I'll make a note of that too, Charles! :-)

15:12 Dec 30, 2011 

I'm interested to hear your views on this, Woodstock. The last thing I want to do is turn myself into some kind of standard-bearer for this usage, which, as I have already said, I generally dislike, but from a British perspective I think you are exaggerating (1) the specifically American nature of this intransitive use of "obsess", and (2) its potential to offend. "Obsess over" is perfectly standard in current British English. It is negative to precisely the same degree as any other use of "obsess" or "obsessive". Any objection that could be raised here to "obsesses over the details" would apply equally to "takes obsessive care over the details", for example. The problem, if there is one, is the concept of obsession, not the intransitive use of the verb. To obsess over something is simply to worry about it (obsessively). It's mainstream usage (albeit somewhat colloquial, perhaps); it's in all the major dictionaries.

Nor do I agree, in general terms, that American advertising language is much more flippant/ironic than British. It was once, but not any more.

It may well be advisable to use a different expression here, but I just felt your comments needed some adjustment.

14:58 Dec 30, 2011 

Very interesting for non-native speakers like me. Thanks Woodstock!

14:52 Dec 30, 2011 

with extreme caution, and certainly not in a context as you describe it. It is not always used in negative way, but again, you have to understand our American sense of humor (the self-deprecating type, which is quite odd to many cultures) to get the tone just right. Humor is a very tricky and delicate thing. For example, what some English people find hilarious is occasionally offensive to me, but I know that it has to do with my sensibilities, not theirs/yours. Many would not recognize this, so best to avoid vocabulary that can be misinterpreted.

14:19 Dec 30, 2011 

Thanks Woodstock. Apart from my fundamental dislike of the phrase, reading the Google hits does indeed suggest that the phrase is not generally used in a positive context!

14:12 Dec 30, 2011 

"To obsess over sth." has become quite common, and I see it used frequently on my favorite US political websites. As political content is frowned upon on ProZ, I won't go into detail... To obsess over something must be done in present simple to be completely correct, as it is a so-called "state verb". I would not recommend using it in a non-American context, as it contains an undertone of flippancy/irony that is closely related to our particular brand of humor, which in turn is very different from BE humo(u)r. This is my opinion, and it could be that other English speakers disagree. However, I have taught and thought about intercultural awareness (mostly German<-->American, but also BE to a limited extent) for many years, so I believe my opinion is pretty well grounded in fact.