ABSTRACT
Most languages have some kind of overt derivation to convert a word from one part of speech to another. The most common method is to use a suffix and English has a number of such suffixes, some including -er to mark the derivation of a noun from a verb as in drive/driver, and -ise as in legal/legalise, which derives a verb from an adjective. The conversion of nouns to verbs is the most common form of conversion. Trend has been in the language for centuries as a noun and verb and referred to a tendency to change direction. The noun trash has been in the language since the sixteenth century to refer to hedge clippings and the like. Biro was a prominent brand when ball-point pens first appeared and came to be used as a general name for ball-points, not only in English, but in a number of other languages as well.
