Apparently, “wanted to buy” is a thing
January 06, 2025
A good friend of mine wanted to buy a used thingamajig, so he posted that desire on Facebook starting with the phrase “Wanted to buy: thingamajig.”
When I saw this, I thought he made a typo and meant to write “Want to buy,” and I told him so via Messages.
Nope, he replied, that’s what people write these days. Seriously‽ (But he did acknowledge that it’s ungrammatical.)
Not wanting to believe him, and exhibiting a naive faith in humanity, I checked Google, and sure enough, it’s common. I also searched Google ngram, and though it was more common in the 1940s, it is also experiencing an uptick in the printed word.
Goddamnit, he’s right. Also, you kids stay off my lawn!
Yeah, the classified ads in the newspaper are traditionally called WANT Ads, not WANTED Ads. Reverse engineering this, perhaps people are leaving out a larger sentence in passive voice: "[This is what is] wanted [by me] to buy." ???
Posted by: Craig Conley | January 10, 2025 at 08:33 AM