painting, building, ...

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by Tdol

I had no idea it was a regional term.

It sounds more like a regional exception. What else could you call "the shopping"?
In any case, I think stefan wants examples where you can say "I was painting this. Now it's a painting". 'Shopping' doesn't fit. 'Cutting' does.

[PS: I've just read Searching for Language's simultaneous post. Maybe it's not as universal a term as I/we imagined.

[stefan_kar]

Actually I wanted examples such as:

Painting as one of the visual arts. This is a beautiful painting by da Vinci.

Building as an engineering discipline. That is a very tall building.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by stefan_kar

Actually I wanted examples such as:

Painting as one of the visual arts. This is a beautiful painting by da Vinci.

Building as an engineering discipline. That is a very tall building.

I think most examples would fit either template. It will be the same whenever the gerund and the present participle are in use and have a similar meaning. I believe I've just restated your requirements in a different way. But maybe you can prove me wrong with some exceptions?

Building as an engineering discipline. [I am building a house] That is a very tall building.
Cutting as a gardening chore. [I am cutting this plant] This is a good cutting.
But not:
* Shopping as an activity [I am shopping] This is a shopping.

[bhaisahab]

Originally Posted by Raymott

I think most examples would fit either template. It will be the same whenever the gerund and the present participle are in use and have a similar meaning. I believe I've just restated your requirements in a different way. But maybe you can prove me wrong with some exceptions?

Building as an engineering discipline. [I am building a house] That is a very tall building.
Cutting as a gardening chore. [I am cutting this plant] This is a good cutting.
But not:
* Shopping as an activity [I am shopping] This is a shopping.

In gardening 'cutting' is not the same as 'taking a cutting' which does indeed produce 'a cutting', good or otherwise for vegetal propogation. Cutting a shrub or a hedge results in 'cuttings' which are burnt or disposed of in another way.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by bhaisahab

In gardening 'cutting' is not the same as 'taking a cutting' which does indeed produce 'a cutting', good or otherwise for vegetal propogation. Cutting a shrub or a hedge results in 'cuttings' which are burnt or disposed of in another way.

OK, good point - but not an example of how stefan's requirements differ from my restating of them.

[jackolantern]

Honestly, I usually just call it "my stuff", or "the stuff" if I am talking to my fiancee (hence, I am saying that to infer mutual ownership).

Honestly, I quite like the general term "the shopping". I had never realized that there was a gap in American-English there, but this seems to fill in quite nicely. Not even "the bags" really works all-around, because you may only have boxes or loose items. Maybe I will start using it and see how people over here react to it.