Other students argued for using "utilize" because they said it made them sound more smart. I think that's an extremely common misconception among college students. In my opinion, writing "utilize" makes one sound less smart, not more smart, and in general using fancy words in the place of perfectly good day-to-day words is a mistake*. Right? It seems to me that when a student tries to sound smart by using big words, she shows that she doesn't understand that one sounds smart by making good arguments in well written papers. The "large words" method strikes me as a lazy "out".
I certainly have found that when you ask students to strive to use a "professional voice," they seem to think that means "use big words even if they are not appropriate." When I give in-class assignments or so-called "casual" writing assignments, I often get much clearer, more concise writing from students than when I give them a more "formal" assignment. This baffles me, and also speaks ill (in a way) of the profession. It hardly seems a compliment if folks think that in order to sound like a professional about something, you need to be as obtuse as possible!;-)
In the immortal words of my undergraduate mentor, I try to tell students "Never use a big word where a diminutive will do."
--Kathy Morgan Wheaton College Norton, MA 02766 --
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