[Editors] Utilize this!

[William Litant]

You and me would never make such an error. These thing's effect an editors credibility. 


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> 
>>> 
>>>  
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Editors mailing list
>>> Editors at mit.edu
>>> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/editors
>> 
>>  
>> 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>