Editing Blog/2025-12-10/Trespass

The word "trespass" is interesting in what it has changed to. Like many other words in the law enforcement or legal space, "I will charge you with X-ing" or "I will eject you for Y" has become "I will X you" or "I will Y you". 'Trespass' is particularly interesting because it was already a transitive verb<ref name=also-noun/> which has caused me some confusion when reading other people's texts. Here's a typical use that someone might make.
{{Reddit
 | url      = https://old.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/1pice3h/social_worker_fatally_stabbed_at_sf_hospital/nt5dw96/
 | author   = u/motosandguns
 | title    = Social worker fatally stabbed at SF hospital remembered by community as 'devoted to his patients'
 | text     = ...
So it’s a weird situation where it’s legal to have a gun in a hospital, but if the hospital can find it they can trespass you and make you leave...
 | date     = Tue Dec 9 17:57:54 2025 UTC
 | score    = 42
}}
This usage is quite common across Reddit and so on, but my university also has it among their policies:

{{Quote
 |text=Persons may be trespassed from University property on grounds including but not limited to the following...
 |author=North Carolina State University
 |source=Policies, Regulations & Rules<ref name=ncsu/>
}}

I had a moment while drinking coffee this morning to look it up, and other people have also noticed this. It seems to be a phenomenon dating back to the '90s<ref name=vt/>, but must not have been as common outside of the US because I've only really noticed in the last few years. 

The verbing a noun is quite common in English, obviously, and even in law-enforcement contexts:
{{Reddit
 | url      = https://www.reddit.com/r/BipolarSOs/comments/1fn3sb7/in_the_middle_of_it_husband_is_manic_and_just/
 | author   = u/c-faux
 | title    = In the middle of it– Husband is manic and just committed for a Baker Act Hold
 | text     = ...After a weekend full of police being called and 4 trips to the psych hospital, they chose to Baker Act him, which is a 72 hour involuntary hold...
 | date     = Sep 22, 2024
 | score    = 5
 | comments = 14
}}
So the whole thing shouldn't be surprising. About the only reason I noticed is that this time the noun is also an identically spelled transitive verb. This must be the only case of a transitive verb where the subject and object flip places in two different meanings!

== Notes ==

<references>
<ref name=also-noun>It's also a noun, but let's talk about the verb for the moment.</ref>
<ref name=ncsu>{{cite web |title=REG 04.05.01 – Trespass Procedures |url=https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-04-05-01/ |publisher=NC State University |access-date=2025-12-09}}</ref>
<ref name=vt>{{cite web
 | title = Trespassers Will Be Trespassed
 | author = Neal Whitman
 | website = Visual Thesaurus
 | url = https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/trespassers-will-be-trespassed/
 | date = April 25, 2013
 | access-date = 2025-12-09
}}</ref>

</references>


{{#seo:|description=The blog post discusses the evolution of the word trespass in legal and law enforcement contexts, where it has become a transitive verb used to describe the}}

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