[Editors] Utilize this!

[Susan I. Shansky]

I can't orientate myself to the utilization of this lexicon.

On Mar 12, 2010, at 11:49 AM, Nicole M Malec wrote:

> Yes, use-r friendly. ;)
>
> Happy Friday.
>
> -Nicole
>
> ....................................................................
> Nicole M. Malec
> Director of Communications
> Resource Development
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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>
> On Mar 12, 2010, at 11:45 AM, Scott R Campbell wrote:
>
>> That would be utilizable information...
>>
>>
>> On 3/12/10 10:44 AM, "Lily Underwood Burns" <lub at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you so much - and thank you everyone for sending along such  
>>> useful information!
>>>
>>> Have a fantastic weekend,
>>>
>>> Lily
>>>
>>> On Mar 12, 2010, at 10:29 AM, Marilyn C Wilson wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Editors,
>>>>
>>>> For your Friday morning mild amusement --
>>>>
>>>> I just had yet another annoying encounter with the word “utilize”  
>>>> which seems more and more commonly used in sentences where the  
>>>> word  “use” is the better choice.
>>>>
>>>> So I went to the Internet to see if others share my reaction, and  
>>>> of course there is quite a bit written about it!  In case you are  
>>>> interested, here’s one example, from the blog of a man named Bob  
>>>> Sutor:http://www.sutor.com/newsite/blog-open/?p=4227
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> “Use” vs. “Utilize”
>>>> This entry is one in a series that tackles issues of proper word  
>>>> use and grammar in English.
>>>>
>>>> The incorrect yet increasingly common use of “utilize” instead of  
>>>> the simpler “use” is well documented in several places around the  
>>>> web. See, for example,
>>>>
>>>> Indeed, utilize can often be no more than a pretentious  
>>>> substitute for use, and this should be avoided. However, utilize  
>>>> does have its own meaning: ‘to turn to profitable use; to make a  
>>>> practical use for’. This is not the same sense as ‘to bring into  
>>>> service’, which is what use fundamentally means.
>>>>
>>>> at Random House <http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980828 
>>>> > .
>>>>
>>>> When words such as these are used incorrectly, the people to whom  
>>>> you are speaking may think:
>>>>
>>>> you are ignorant of the definition of the word, so what else is  
>>>> wrong in what you are saying?
>>>> you are using a pretentious “big word” to sound more  
>>>> sophisticated than you are
>>>> you are slipping into jargon and can’t explain something in  
>>>> simple terms
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> None of these reflect well on you as a speaker, a writer, or as a  
>>>> communicator in general.
>>>>
>>>> Here’s some guidance:
>>>>
>>>> If you are about to say “utilize” but “use” would work just as  
>>>> well, then say “use.”
>>>> If you previously thought something was useless, but you got  
>>>> clever and now it isn’t, you are utilizing it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Note that outside the United States, “utilize” will likely be  
>>>> spelled “utilise.”
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Have a great weekend all!
>>>> Marilyn
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Marilyn C. Wilson, PhD
>>>> Sr. Career Development Specialist
>>>> Career Development Center
>>>> MIT ~ GECDC
>>>> 617-258-9149
>>>> Twitter: mcwillow
>>>> mcwilson at mit.edu <mailto:mcwilson at mit.edu>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> Lily U. Burns
>>> Manager of External Affairs
>>> Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
>>> E25-519
>>> 77 Massachusetts Avenue
>>> Cambridge, MA 02139
>>> 617.258.6966
>>> lub at mit.edu
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> <ATT00001.c>
>
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Susan Shansky
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