Introduction: actorness and EU sanctions

Abstract

The notion of actorness] is an extraordinary creation that manages to combine a noun of dubious pedigree [i.e. 'actor'] with a suffix (-ness), which, elsewhere in the English language, is only applied to adjectives and participles, producing a result that is both quite impenetrable and slightly childish. (.. .) [I]t is used (.. .) in an attempt to express the concept of 'the quality of being an actor'. The association between this word and the EU is so strong that, at the time of writing, if we google say 'US actorness', we still get a list of entries concerning the EU.