Gerund:
noun In Latin, a noun derived from a verb and having all case forms except the nominative.
noun In other languages, a verbal noun analogous to the Latin gerund, such as the English form ending in -ing when used as a noun, as in singing in We admired the choir’s singing.
[Wordnik (from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition)]
Used by my Arts Editor as she puzzled over dogging it, catting around, and fishing: why do fish not get the same treatment? she wonders. (I fear she did not use gerund properly, but don’t tell her that.) It also reminds me of the observation presented in Calvin and Hobbes,
Out of respect for author Mr. Watterson, I shall not steal the comic. Wherefore art thou, Bill?!
