Obviously I know what my students mean when they use “strive” as a noun, in phrases like “the strive for success.”
I have noticed this more frequently in recent years.
I do not think they are mishearing “strife” (which has the same linguistic root, but has negative connotations of violence and opposition, whereas the verb “strive” connotes dedication and progress).
Is this a regionalism, like “that table needs washed,” or a rising alternative form, like “based off of” (to which I still object as an illogical and unnecessary distortion of “based on”)?
I have also seen “thrive” used the same way, though less frequently.
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Check https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/strive and look for 2 sources under “Further reading”.
It might be obsolete nowadays, but does make make it wrong?
Well, I can recognize something is nonstandard without calling it “wrong”. But whatever benefit your prose gets from “strive” as a noun is probably not worth the risk of calling attention to the nonstandard word choice. So I’ll continue to flag such usage for revision when I see it in academic or professional settings, though I probably would not take off any points on a timed writing exercise.
strive is a verb AND a noun. It’s uncommon in usage as a noun. That’s all!
Just gotta use it correctly!
If you have found any dictionaries that accept “strive” as a noun, please let me know. So far I haven’t found any. Here’s a thread in which someone asks for a noun that means “the act of striving,” and nobody suggests “strive.”
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/123071/noun-for-act-of-striving
I regularly encounter students who write “would of” or “per say,” but I don’t accept them as uncommon variations. The English language does evolve, but I’m not ready to accept “strive” as a noun just because some of my students use it.
I’ve seen it on and off since I started teaching in the 90s. But it seems to have roared back recently. It’s horrid, and I love the Picard meme you have above.
And, yes, “based off of” is stylistic brutality.
Baader-Meinhof it? Had to look that one up! Fantastic!
Saga Terrell: I know, right? There’s a word for everything!
It just reminds me of this
Also… now that you’ve heard it, you’ll hear it everywhere…
The strive to impact the outcome!
I’m not sure I’ve heard “the strive for success.” Rather, I hear “TO strive for success.” Maybe I’ve not primed my ears for the distinction. Now I’m going to The Baader-Meinhof it everywhere.