According to the Cambridge English Dictionary:

> refrain, n. a short part of a song or poem that is repeated, esp. at the end of each longer part, or any phrase that is often repeated

Verbing nouns is a very common feature of the English language.

That's true but in this case the noun and verb forms of refrain have distinct meanings and come into English from different sources:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refrain#word-hist...

It's don't think I've ever read refrained used this way. I wonder if she was thinking "reframed"?

Nah, somebody who delights in seeing language used in poetic ways is going to use language in poetic ways.

Why did they have to flag it? This was an interesting discussion.

nicwolff's comment isn't framed as intellectual curiosity. It comes across as condescending. $0.02.

We’re on HN, people flag anything that has the slightest hint of a challenge

In music, a refrain is a passage that we return to rather than continuing to progress the song. When we hear refrain as a verb, the metaphor tends to focus on the "abstaining from something else" aspect, but here she's focusing on the "repeated passage" aspect. It's not a common use but it basically works.

"Repeat as a refrain" I assume. What do you think "refrained" means?

Didn't do it. I refrained from smoking in the building.

Refrenare rather than refringere.

I think editors are just extinct. Or spell checked from reframed or something. Or our English just isn't up to snuff.