Elicit

Hey,
I have a doubt regarding the usage of the word 'elicit' . Mostly this word is used along with an infinitive but I had like to ask that can we omit the infinitive? Is this phrase correct -> "Elicit the fun within" ???...

That's fine. That's in the imperative. You can also use it like this: "He elicited a response."

See elicit is a transitive verb as per the dictionary . So when you say "He elicited a response" , it uses elicit as transitive verb but in "Elicit the fun within" , elicit is not acting as transitive verb . Please correct me if I am wrong and yeah do think more on the usage as I have to use this phrase in somewhere very important .

I suppose you could say that, but I've never heard anyone use that expression. It sounds sort of like "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." It sounds grammatically correct, but also sounds completely meaningless.

Just don't confuse it with illicit ;-)

Its not about the meaning coz i have to use it as a tagline . Its just that i wanna make sure that it is grammatically correct .Taglines are meant to be short and catchy . & yeah i m not confusin it with illicit dude . ;) . So guys help me out wid this .

The thing is that "elicit" is very much a highly formal literary word - just about anything containing it is unlikely to be "catchy" at all in the first place.

Leave it to me whether that phrase is catchy or meaningless . I just want to know whether that phrase "Elicit the fun within" is grammatically correct or not , whether it is approved or not . I am asking your help in this matter . Hope to see a better response . :)

I'm not a grammarian, but I am a native speaker, if that helps, and it sounds fine to me.

It's gramatically incorrect to end a sentence with "within". Of course not many people care about that anymore. It doesn't sound "catchy" at all--it sounds like something a non-native speaker would add to his tag-line.

>>It's gramatically incorrect to end a sentence with "within". Of course not many people care about that anymore. It doesn't sound "catchy" at all--it sounds like something a non-native speaker would add to his tag-line.<<

You mean, prescriptivists arbitrarily decided that it was "incorrect" to end a sentence with any preposition, "within" included, contrary to actual English syntax.

Indeed. If it weren't for the prescriptivists, who would dictate English usage?

So, to be grammatical, it should be "Elicit internal fun", which is illicit, bringing this conversation full-circle.

>>Indeed. If it weren't for the prescriptivists, who would dictate English usage?<<

The people who speak it natively.

If you folks can't agree on who is to dictate English usage then I, Shuimo, volunteer to dictate English usage.