I am wondering if it is redundant to say "write graffiti"? After all, it is a given that someone has to write graffiti, because graffiti is form of writing...but saying "someone wrote graffiti on the wall" seems to flow better than "someone graffitied the wall".

Thoughts?

I don't think its redundant, but of course, I hated english, so this could just be my way of getting back at those horrible teachers :D

You could also say, "someone used graffiti on the wall".

Originally posted by JTY
You could also say, "someone used graffiti on the wall".

I don't think that would be correct, because the graffiti is not being used on the wall, spray paint/chalk/whatever is being used on the wall to create the graffiti.

Where is Chicken when you need him -- we have a technical question only he can answer :).

Yes, it is redundant. No, it is not any worse than "ATM Machine", "PIN Number", "Tele-Commuting" (think about what that really means for a moment!) or hundreds of other phrases in common usage.

"Someone graffitied the wall" ?

Originally posted by IT Hosting
"Someone graffitied the wall" ?

Someone defaced the wall with graffiti
There was graffiti all over the wall


etc.

There are other verbs available to preface grafitti:

- write
- painted
- removed

Or in other contexts "Wow, look at all the graffiti!"

Essentially, graffiti is a noun. If you are to describe an action for the noun, it must have a verb. I don't think "graffitied" is a good idea.

Originally posted by DizixCom

Essentially, graffiti is a noun. If you are to describe an action for the noun, it must have a verb. I don't think "graffitied" is a good idea.

Sorry, that was a bad example, I would not use the work graffitied. My point was that graffiti has to be written, so I am wondering if the phrase "write graffiti" is redundant.

It is not redundant. 'Write' would be the verb, 'Graffiti' would be the noun, as was said before. The verb for 'graffiti' is 'tag' or 'tagging' (at least 'round these parts, this is most likely slang, though it is commonly used here).

"He went tagging." -would mean he wrote graffiti on something. He could also be called a 'tagger'.

In common usage, "graffiti" is both a mass noun and a verb; in technical usage, "graffiti" is a plural noun, with the singular being "graffito" (as any Italian speaker could tell you).

"Tagging" refers to a specific form of graffiti, namely that which identifies its author by some token; messages (usually of a racist or political nature) written without any form of covert identification are still graffiti, but are not normally considered "tagging".