Do you refer, or do you reference?

I bought a washing machine last month. It's a shiny new model, far less noisy and more energy efficient than my old one. I'm pleased with the way it works, especially since the household laundry is now getting done without a routine leak-mopping afterward.

Yet my inner wordie has been groaning with every start of this fabulous new machine.

As with most top-loaders, the short-form instructions are printed on the inside of the lid. After Step 3 is this directive:

Always reference your owner's manual and garment care instructions for further information.

My mind jolts every time I read the sentence. Reference? Isn't that a noun? And if it can be a verb, why on Earth did the manufacturer use a long one when a short one will do? After all, the read-it-without-thinking refer to would be accessible to a wider range of consumers than the more ponderous reference. (For brevity's sake, let's not even get started on what's wrong with always in this context.)

I feel like a fuddy-duddy before my time when I react this way to language evolution. Whether I like it or not, the fact is that reference as a verb has come into common use. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see or hear it somewhere. People wouldn't use it that way if they didn't find it, well, usable. Useful.

I wondered whether my revulsion toward reference had any basis in linguistic fact, so I checked (referred to, if you will) my two favorite sources, Chicago Manual of Style and AP Stylebook. Neither makes any notation on the subject at all. I looked in a few dictionaries instead and was surprised. Clearly the English speakers of the world are divided on this one. Here is the contrast evident in just two of the most recent print dictionaries I checked:

Webster's New World Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2003): 1 entry with 5 major definitions, all nouns

but...

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2005):  3 entries: 1 noun (4 major definitions), 1 adjective (1 definition), 1 transitive verb (2 major definitions)

But for me, the real shocker is in the etymological note Merriam-Webster gives. It indicates the first noted use of reference as noun was in 1891. Yes, that's right: Here I thought I had been witnessing language evolution before my eyes, when in fact the usage in question is not new by any stretch of the imagination.

And somehow, that leaves me with a renewed sense of wonder at the endearing oddities of our language.

So here's your head-scratcher for the week, readers: To your ear, are reference and refer to interchangeable as verbs? Do you prefer one over the other, and why? Does it run counter to the evolution of English to feel revulsion to reference and other changing usages, or is it just our reflexive protectiveness of our language? And while we're on the subject, what modern or changed usages that are considered acceptable by other English users grate on your ear? All opinions welcome!