Instant Messaging

On the kde-devel mailing list regarding the term "instant messaging." I am no expert at English grammar, but do have some knowledge on what might be going on. The term has taken hold in the popular lexicon. American Heritage Dictionary defines instant messaging as:

n. The transmission of an electronic message over a computer network using software that immediately displays the message in a window on the screen of the recipient.

In English, if a given lexeme has verb form, it usually also has a gerund, which is often equivalent to the progressive (often called participle) form of the verb. There are many cases where the infinitive also has noun that describes the action of preforming the verb, unlike the the gerund, which describes the act itself. Gerunds have special rules in English and can be clefted unlike the verbal forms they often act as substitutes for.

For example:
verb: to run (infinitive)
noun: run = the act of running
verb: running (past progressive) (i.e. she was running) = an inflected form of the verb
gerund: running (noun) = the action of the verb to run

Of course, there the are many lexemes in English where the past progressive can also be used as an adjective further confusing the matter.

So, "instant messaging" can be parsed several ways. For the several possible forms messaging could refer to there also exists a complementary form for instant, but I can take a stab at the intended meaning via the following examples:

• Ian enjoys instant messaging his friends. ("messaging" is a gerund)
• Ian is instant messaging his friends. ("messaging" is a participle verb)

Note that in the first sentence, the clause, "instant messaging his friends" is actually acting as a single noun.

There seems to be no problem using "instant messaging" as a noun in English.