orthography - login and payoff are nouns. But can they be used as verbs?


I know that words like login and payoff are properly nouns but I increasingly notice many (not at all uneducated) people use them as verbs:



Will you payoff your credit card this month?



and



Please check this when you login.



To me (a non-native English user), that seems incorrect because separating the core noun from a preposition is what I was taught: Please check this when you log in. (My emphasis)


Is this use proper or not?



Answer



I agree with you. (I am a native English speaker.) It is more correct to say "log in" or "pay off" when using these words as verbs. However, usage will dictate whether these eventually become solid words, even when used as verbs. Until that time, however, it is better to not spell them solid when used as verbs.


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