geekahedron

What I meant by "outside the context of that specific resource" was trying to enforce the peculiar style conventions and terminology of the OMEG anywhere else.

More to the point, as I stated earlier, every single online grammar resource or dictionary states that infinitive phrases "can be used as" or "function as" nouns, adjective, or adverbs. That being the phrasing with which you seem to take issue, I suggest that the scope of your argument is much larger than just this one answer.

Worse, to drop in a comment such as "an adjective is not a function" with no context or explanation whatsoever, only muddies the waters of what I still think is a very clear and straightforward answer to a simple question.

OMEG has a very strict style which treats functions, and the word function itself, in a precise manner for absolute clarity and internal consistency. This is fine, but it's also completely absurd to try and enforce that style anywhere outside of the context of that specific resource.

It's a rather disingenuous straw man argument to say that "this phrase is used as an adjective" necessitates "literally anywhere you can use an adverb, you can insert this phase." A noun phrase acting as an adjunct adverbial can only be used as a pre-head adjunct in the absence of a determiner ("this" is a determiner, so "this way" can only used as a post-head adjunct).

Again, please provide a source for the distinction you are trying to enforce. This is the first time I've seen anyone trying to argue that saying "this phrase acts as an adjective" is poor form, let alone a reputable source or cogent argument to that end.

Incidentally, there are two ways to interpret "he did it this way". "I asked him to paint the room with horizontal stripes. He did it this way." In this case, "this way" refers to the method and acts as an adverb, modifying "did." "I did not think he should paint while he was tired. He did it this way." In the second case, "this way" refers to "tired" and modifies "he," acting as an adjective. In both instances, the phrase is used as a modifier, but saying just that is not clear.

The only questions I have raised are what this contributes to the answer and what sources you have to back up your opinion. I do not think I have answered either of those questions for myself.

@Man_From_India Sorry, but it is not wrong to say that a phrase or a word that is normally a different part of speech are being used as an adjective. It's a very normal usage, in fact, and more specific than simply saying "modifier" which can refer to either adjective phrases or adverbial phrases, for example. Do you have any source which backs up the distinction you are drawing or your claim that my terminology is incorrect? Nearly if not every dictionary and grammar resource uses that type of phrasing ubiquitously.

@Man_From_India Your analogy is more broken than it is bold. What does that have to do with this answer? If we accept the analogy, however, adjective is both a category ("blue is an adjective") and a function ("In the phrase 'microwave oven,' the noun 'microwave' is being used as an adjective").

@Man_From_India The terms "function" and "category" are your additions, not part of my answer. To say that the infinitive is being used as an adjective is perfectly correct, as is such use of the infinitive "to live" in this example. Making argumentative statements of opinion -- without any research of your own -- is wholly unconstructive and, again, I'm not sure how it helps answer the question.

Adjective is a part of speech, but it is also a function in that other words and phrases can be used in the place of an adjective, as in this case. I'm not sure what you're trying to say or how it helps answer the question.

which, now that I say it, is a much better definition than my previous

I think it formed from "homologous" and "heterologous" to describe the scenario, somewhat unique to medicine, of being derived from oneself

ó.o

"autological" means "self-descriptive" the way we've been using it here

"autologous" means "having the same origin," to take a loose interpretation of the medical term

as I understand it, the two words have completely different meanings

now I'm trying to think of an example that is both

"autologous" or "autological"?