Transcript:
What the heck is with the “-er” suffix?
“I’m a witcher.”
“What does a witcher do?”
“I create watch catch breed f*** hunt witches.”
“I’m a birder.”
“What does a birder do?”
“I create catch hunt breed f*** watch birds.”
“Actually I think several of those could apply…”
I think the confusing-ass formula is this:
A [word1]er is a [word2]er of [word1]s.
Yes it is! It’s just not one you recognize!
Okay, listen. You’re saying “birder” is “someone who birds birds”. And? What does “to bird” even mean? According to the dictionary, it means TO OBSERVE, not literally TO BIRD. And what is a fisher? “A person who fishes fish”? And what does “to fish” mean? TO CATCH. Not TO OBSERVE this time. That means that verbing a noun is not consistent. You could argue “A [noun]er is a person who [same-noun-but-used-as-a-verb]s [first noun]s” all day, but what does that effing really mean when that verb is different every time?
I really, really don’t know how to break this down simpler for you, okay? The meaning is inconsistent, and cannot be known without being told, which means can’t be extrapolated at all. That’s the freaking point. Already knowing the meaning of words is not the same as extrapolating them.
You’re adding an extra noun! It’s not “someone who verbs nouns”, it’s just “someone who verbs”. Example: A birder is not “someone who birds birds”, it’s just “someone who birds”, with “bird” meaning “to observe birds”. This is easier to see with simpler nouns. Welder = someone who welds. Racer = someone who races. Yodeler = someone who yodels. Singer = someone who sings. The meaning is inconsistent because the verb is different every time! You’re not being given a noun and have to guess the verb. You’re being given the verb directly. If you don’t know what that verb means then yeah you have to look it up, just like EVERY OTHER WORD IN EXISTENCE.
Edit:
You can keep saying stuff like this but every time you do I only relish the irony.
Anyways I decided an example that can’t even have a noun might be helpful. This works with any intransitive verb, but the best example I have is probably “worker” = “someone who works”. You could also use “yawner”, “laugher”, “walker”, “carer”, etc.