I am a tad unclear about what criteria might lead to the conclusion that "...writing "utilize" makes one sound less smart, not more smart, and..." than writing "use". (Other than the fact that it takes me more than twice as long to type.)
How is it that the person who can say the same thing 10 or 12 ways comes off as less smart that the person who has only one word at his/her disposal? (See: http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary , using "use[2,verb]".) It was not too long ago that an expanded vocabulary was the mark of an educated person. That was probably, however, before it was important to avoid making the ignorant feel ignorant. The two are not necessarily, strictly speaking, exactly synonymous. According to http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary : synonyms USE, EMPLOY, UTILIZE mean to put into service especially to attain an end. USE implies availing oneself of something as a means or instrument to an end <willing to use any means to achieve her ends>. EMPLOY suggests the use of a person or thing that is available but idle, inactive, or disengaged <looking for better ways to employ their skills>. UTILIZE may suggest the discovery of a new, profitable, or practical use for something <an old wooden bucket utilized as a planter>. Obfuscate Proudly!! (I think I remember my old buddy Ben Franklin saying something like that.) Endeavour to confuse the ignorant, utilizing every means at your disposal - at every opportunity - least they have little motivation to not remain ignorant! Paul Smith wrote: > > I had a discussion in an upper-level course yesterday related to all of > this, and I've got a couple of questions. I gave my "endeavour or try" > example, and told students that if I saw that, I would recommend getting rid > of "endeavour or" rather than "or try", and then I went on to say that if > they find themselves writing "utilize", they should stop and use "use" > instead. Fireworks erupted (which is a very good thing, of course...). > > Students had two reasons for continuing to say "utilize". One student > said that if she were saying "He used X and she used Y and they used Z", it > would sound "less redundant" to say "He used X and she utilized Y and they > utilized Z". I think there's a common misconception there, that one should > endeavour to utilize different words each time one says something, for > variety. In my opinion, unless one means something different each time, one > should use the same word each time. Right? > > 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". > > * Or "in general, using fancy vocabulary rather than utilizing perfectly > adequate colloquial words is erroneous. Would you not agree?". > > Paul Smith > Alverno College > Milwaukee > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ----------==========>>>>>>>>>> ��� <<<<<<<<<<==========---------- Sometimes you just have to try something, and see what happens. John W. Nichols, M.A. Assistant Professor of Psychology Tulsa Community College 909 S. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119 (918) 595-7134 Home: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols MegaPsych: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/megapsych.html --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
