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This question came to my mind after seeing this tweet from an online acquaintance:

The use of learning as a noun makes me ill. Maybe someone gained their learnings about language from corporate Borat.

Is the word learning used as a noun not correct English? If so, what are the words one should be using to express the same intended meaning?

missingfaktor
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3 Answers3

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That is ill-informed nonsense. Of course it’s a noun. Point the tweeter in the direction of Alexander Pope’s couplet, both for the usage and the sentiment:

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.

It is not entirely clear whether the tweeter had the plural form particularly in mind, but, if so, its use is not unprecedented. In Cymbeline, I. i. 43 the First Gentleman says:

The king . . . Puts to him all the Learnings that his time Could make him the receiuer of.

Francis Bacon uses it at least twice:

Particular and positive learnings of lawes doe easily decline from a good temper of iustice.

and

He did send his diuine truth into the world, wayted on with other Learnings.

Barrie England
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    Notice the OP said learnings, as a count noun. That sounds like corporate Borat to me, too. And we no longer have students: we have learners, who go to trainings, and having finished those, get to chalk up another learning to their annual learnings list come evaluation time. It is. . . not to my likings . – tchrist Nov 16 '12 at 08:38
  • @tchrist: Thank you. I have edited my post to take account of the point. – Barrie England Nov 16 '12 at 09:00
  • @tchrist On a different note: Nice you brought up " trainings " -- I was about to pan a certain company for "organizing corporate trainings" -- am I on strong footing so I could point out their "error"? – Kris Nov 16 '12 at 14:17
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    @Kris:'It appeareth, that..it is needfull to learne certaine things, and to be instructed and trained in the same, and that these instructions and trainings be vndertaken for their sakes which learn.' (1598). – Barrie England Nov 16 '12 at 14:25
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    Which implies, I can say trainings just as much as I can safely say learne, certaine or vndertaken today. – Kris Nov 16 '12 at 14:28
  • @Kris: I don't think it implies any such thing. The OED also has later instances of trainings, including one from the twentieth century. You may certainly object to its use if you wish, but I'm not sure what the grounds would be for doing so. – Barrie England Nov 16 '12 at 14:34
  • Using language seems to be a congenital human trait, but using it well is an art. Art is always judged as good or bad or mediocre. I see no difference between judgments about language usage & other artistic creations. We judge poems, novels, paintings; what public figures & private citizens say; how they say what they say. Aesthetics are, it seems to me, grounds enough. We like what we like & dislike what we don't. Nothing odd about that. Insisting on having "grounds for objecting" is like demanding that we justify our preferences. Jameson tastes better than beer to me. That's all. –  Nov 16 '12 at 14:58
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It's perfectly correct English. "Learning" is a gerund, a verbal noun:

MW3UDE: Main Entry:learning Function:noun Inflected Form:-s Usage:often attributive Etymology:Middle English lerning, from Old English leornung, from leornian to learn + -ung -ing

1 a (1) : the act or experience of one that learns the learning of a trade *gives T evidence of trial-and-error learning in paramecia— W.N.Kellogg* learning may be regarded as a property of all living organisms— R.C.Noble *learning experiences* (2) : the process of acquisition and extinction of modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits, or action tendencies in a motivated organism through experience, practice, or exercise — compare MATURATION b (1) : something that is learned or taught increasing the practical value of the learnings— H.R.Douglass *the film does provide learnings— Catherine M. Adler*; specifically : a subject that is taught in school emphasize the mastery of essential learnings— M.B.Smith (2) obsolete : ACQUIREMENT

2 a : knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study : ERUDITION book learning *a man of good education and learning— Jonathan Swift* obtuseness in perception can never be made good by any amount of learning— John Dewey b : knowledge accumulated and handed down by generations of scholars : CULTURE learning is a sacred deposit from the experience of ages— William Hazlitt *Assyrian learning of the seventh century B.C. is well represented— H.J.J.Winter*

3 dialect : formal education : SCHOOLING synonyms see KNOWLEDGE

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    No, you do not have learnings as a count noun. That is hardly what I would call “perfectly correct English”. To the contrary, in fact. – tchrist Nov 16 '12 at 08:42
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Your friend is probably fed up with learning. According to OED and NOAD, learning is a perfectly normal noun.

learning |ˈlərniNG|
noun
the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study, or by being taught: these children experienced difficulties in learning | [ as modifier ] : an important learning process.
• knowledge acquired in this way: I liked to parade my learning in front of my sisters.
ORIGIN Old English leornung (see learn,-ing1).

Noah
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