Usage in speech - nouns as verbs

I will confess to the fact that I occasionally verb nouns. But I do it intentionally and with the understanding that said noun is acceptable as a verb (or for fun, like "I just APAed those references."). There are those however who do it without knowing they're wrong, like a certain someone in my office who just used the phrase "amount up to," as in "This document can only amount up to 60 pages." Whatthe?

I was recently at an editors' refresher course where we spent a bit of time talking about mistakes vs. transitions in English usage. The usage of "they" as opposed to "he or she" seems to be making its way into modern usage, as is using NOUNS as VERBS. For example: to partner with, to factor in. The funny thing is that those two examples don't bother me in the slightest. However, I'm sure it does bother other people who were taught that these were incorrect, just like "amount up to" REALLY bothers me. It's all about at what stage of transition you were first taught. I bet few of you are bothered by using "you" in place of "thou" as a plural pronoun.

I'm finding recently that I really enjoy linguistics. I've been formally educated more in the linguistics of French than English I think. I had a great French grammar professor in college who told all sorts of fun stories about the evolution of the language. A fun example: the word for head in French is "tete." This came from the Latin "testa," or vessel, and my professor joked that this was because the Romans thought the French had empty heads. Though I guess this is etymology and not linguistics. Details!!