The title of this post reflects where my finger landed in the definition of today’s word. I’m thankful that there are so many meanings to this one that I don’t have to concentrate on that bit.
Without further ado, let’s move on.
move (intransitive verb)
Firstly, let’s tackle ‘intransitive verb’. Is it a doing word that’s imbibed intravenously? Is it just kind of shy, and that’s why it comes off a little cold and aloof? IT’S ALL OF THESE THINGS! Haha, no it’s not.
I’m sitting here with my dog on my lap and chuckling at my own jokes. This is the absolute epitome of high achievement.
I’m not Googling it because that would be a sign of weakness and I’ve got a dictionary at hand – an object with all the answers, literally the only object you would need on a desert island, if that desert island’s sand was made of Scrabble tiles and you had to string them together to form food-words. That sounds like the perfect subject for a fever dream, to be honest.
So an intransitive verb is, “a verb that is never accompanied by a direct object, as come, sit, lie, etc.”, or, “a verb occurring without a direct object, as drinks in the sentence he drinks only when thirsty“.
Here are some example sentences using the word of the day:
“The body on the floor moved slightly, enough to catch her eye.”
“Maggots moved across the rotting flesh, their fat white bodies searching for new mouth holds to latch upon.”
“Screaming, she moved out of the room with some alacrity.”
You get the drift. The ‘move’ part is not related to an object in the sentences. Full disclosure, I understand it right now but in a day, I will be confused again, so I really need to try and drum this into my skull.
Move can become a transitive verb in some of its incarnations, i.e. to change the place/position of something; to set or keep in motion, shake or stir; to prompt action, et cetera, et cetera. But think about it next time you move your shoulders back. Your action is both correcting your posture and a transitive verb when the Narrator in your life runs its commentary. Bonus!
I’m getting a headache.
Running through the definitions of move, let’s stick to the first one. Thus:
move (intransitive verb)
1. to change place or position; pass from one place or situation to another.
What I like about the above is the dichotomy of thoughts I had about it. You could be moving a step to the right; you could be moving halfway across the world. You could be moving to a better place or even just something banal – the move from work to home, the relieved sigh that moves from your lips to the air around you as you step across the threshold. It could be a move to a worse scenario than the one you were just in. Say hello to my little friend? Keep the tommy gun, mate, there’s a sniper rifle trained on me now.
The saying that popped into my head was out of the frying pan and into the fire. I guess that’s a sign of my perspective on things.
Whatever your next move is, I hope it’s a good one. Carry a fire extinguisher with you at all times and stay out of kitchens; that should keep you safe.