We now store verbs in a new side table

src/Model/Verb.php

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @copyright Copyright (C) 2020, Friendica
+ *
+ * @license GNU AGPL version 3 or any later version
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
+namespace Friendica\Model;
+
+use Friendica\Database\DBA;
+
+class Verb
+{
+	/**
+	 * Insert a verb record and return its id
+	 *
+	 * @param string $verb
+	 *
+	 * @return integer verb id
+	 * @throws \Exception
+	 */
+	public static function getID($verb)
+	{
+		if (empty($verb)) {
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		$verb_record = DBA::selectFirst('verb', ['id'], ['name' => $verb]);
+		if (DBA::isResult($verb_record)) {
+			return $verb_record['id'];
+		}
+
+		DBA::insert('verb', ['name' => $verb], true);
+
+		return DBA::lastInsertId();
+	}
+}