What the heck is wrong with the word "Use"? Recently I have noticed professional people at seminars and meetings not using the word "used" instead they use a more complex word "utilise" I assume in order to make it sound more impressive. As in "We can utilise the screwdriver to remove the screw" instead of we can use the screwdriver to remove to the screw. Or, "we hope that this new program will be well utilised by the public" instead of "we hope that this new program will be well used by the public". Once you listen out for it it's friggin every where and I'm sick of it. It's just a way to make something simple sound overly important. Bring back "use" I say. What's wrong with it? There is no reason for this under utilisation of the word "use"!
3 comments:
Recently I have noticed professional people at seminars and meetings not using the word "used" instead they use a more complex word "utilise" I assume in order to make it sound more impressive.
If you haven't done so already, read Don Watson's Death Sentence: the Decay of Public Language.
This kind of thing is even more frustrating when you have to beat it out of first-year students, who have been indoctrinated into the view that if they don't pump their writing full of Latinate verbiage (see--even I'm doing it), they will--or should--receive a poor mark. I used to teach a communications class, and I actually had to face a room full of angry students who could not for the life of them comprehend why I would want to take marks off for unnecessary prolixity. They complained that if they actually were to refrain from using purpler prose when simpler prose would suffice, they would be "dumbing down" their writing.
I also have a fond memory of leafing through a lit theory book in the Reid Library, in which the author chose to leave French terms untranslated. In the margins, someone had written: "Translate you pretentious fuck!" Amen.
As the saying goes, don't use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Most sociology and anthropology books decide to leave the french untranslated... just assuming we can all speak french. Not a word here or here, but entire sentences.
Every sub-culture has buzz-words. In anthropology, its french wankery. In the corporate world, its 'utilise'.... helps cover up that they have no idea what they're really talking about.
Post a Comment