Talk:do the dishes

RFD discussion: June–September 2016

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do the dishes and do the laundry

Sum of parts. Similar to do the cleaning, do the cooking, do the windows etc. 2602:306:3653:8920:E528:3163:2220:5AA6 17:05, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Please use the templates instead of copying their contents to each page. DTLHS (talk) 17:09, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Hmmm. Do we need some kind of table of collocations of this form, perhaps in an Appendix? DCDuring TALK 17:53, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

At the moment we don't have a sense of do that covers these phrases, so unless one is added, I can't accept the argument that they're SOP. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 19:24, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

What are the collocations that are like this? I think that almost any -ing form (mostly effortful or purposeful processes or activities) and many nouns (both process/action and result) can be used after do in this sense, and with many, if not all, determiners and adjectives. Our definition "perform, execute" covers the process/action portion of this. This would correspond to do the laundering and do the dishwashing, which are often habitual. I think that the usage example "You haven't really done the laundry until it's ironed, folded, hung up, and put away" exemplifies usage in my idiolect. Perhaps something like "To complete (a purposeful activity)". In contrast I don't think one can say "He did his perspiration" (not a purposeful activity). That in these expressions laundry and dishes are metonomic uses of the nouns may create an illusion that there is an idiom, but there are an endless list of nouns that can follow do in this sense: "He did the drawings I asked for", "I've done underwritings", "They've done all 18 holes". DCDuring TALK 20:25, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Keep. do the dishes - lemmings: [1]

Both are single word terms in other languages, especially the latter. Keep as translation targets only, if they fail as idiomatic. IMO, they are also idiomatic. --Anatoli T. ^{(обсудить}/^вклад) 14:09, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

Should we also have do their own dishes etc. for "They only do their own dishes, never ours."? After all, there might be a different translation or it might require some language exposure to pick up the structure/pattern. DCDuring TALK 23:07, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

No. Just the lemma is fine. No point being sarcastic with me. I'm not interested but if you are, you can send your questions to Collins dictionary authors. :) --Anatoli T. ^{(обсудить}/^вклад) 12:39, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

• Create a sense of do that involves completion of a task: When this is DONE, I'm still not sure if these should be kept or deleted. Purplebackpack89 19:35, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

  @Purplebackpack89 Most would interpret DONE in your example as done#Adjective. DCDuring TALK 23:10, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

  Unless they're counting "is" as an auxiliary, of course. If you're counting "done" as an adjective, I could say, "when we DO this." Though it looks like it already has been DONE (again, either adjective or "been" is auxiliary), since a definition of "do" already exists for both "completed" the verb and "completed" the adjective. I still am not sure if "do the dishes" and "do to the laundry" should be deleted, though, in light of their use as a possible translation target. Purplebackpack89 23:29, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

• Keep - very useful for the translations, though there may be some fancy linguistic argument for keeping them regardless. ---> Tooironic (talk) 04:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
• Keep. Just what is it that you're doing with the dishes or the laundry when you do the dishes or do the laundry? It's implied that you're washing them, not doing something else with them. 2602:306:3653:8920:6113:2548:B14E:8BCF 03:02, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

  And when one makes breakfast, makes a car, makes a left turn, or makes a speech, one is doing very different things as well. Do, make, go, set, get, have, take, and other basic verbs have a vast range of complements that imply different specific activities. DCDuring TALK 11:03, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

  You can also begin, start, finish etc. the dishes. The point is that "the dishes" here is a task, not the physical object. You can't "do the plates" or "do a mug", really. Equinox ◑ 11:53, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Really? "Can I help with the washing up?" "Well, you can do the plates." But of course do the plates is not really a set phrase like do the dishes. — SMUconlaw (talk) 14:40, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Are these "set phrases" or just NPs more common than those with other determiners and adjectives? DCDuring TALK 15:36, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Kept as to both. bd2412 T 01:57, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Why on earth was this kept? I don't particularly like this decision. Has anyone modified the definition of do to "to wash", or "to complete"? It seems that "do the plates" also means "wash the plates". Philmonte101 (talk) 02:02, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

The decision was merely a consequence of the consensus of views expressed in the discussion. bd2412 T 16:51, 10 September 2016 (UTC)