Totally agree with your comments regarding the use of ‘use’ vs ‘utilize’ but in your commentary, you hit another raw nerve; ‘alternate’ vs ‘alternative’.
Bureaucratic? Learn more. We have to intentionally ‘dumb down’ our technical papers to ensure that the regulators understand the science. It irks me.Great post, and very helpful. As a noun use is the act of using. As verbs the difference between utilize and use is that utilize is (american spelling) while use is (archaic) to accustom; to habituate.
And . Utilize definition is - to make use of : turn to practical use or account.
One of the points was that, in our efforts to look smarter, we keep taking simple words and making them longer:Use … utilize … utilization … utilizable … utilizability … misutilizabilityAnd then we build unutilizable sentences to increase the utilization of our misutilized words instead of using simple words to build straightforward sentences.This is a great comment.
Utiliser, that’s the verb unconjugated, which means to make use of.
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I literally cringe every time I see utilize i documents and emails that I receive from my colleagues. I am rather fluent in French (my husband is French and I live in France) and the word “utilisation” is frequently used and not pretentious at all. In business and finance, a big exception is in discussions of capacity; the term “capacity utilization” is standard.
(Though, with creative writing, of course, this is different.) Because of this, it’s okay to use ORIGINAL: My years of experience have allowed me to REVISED: My years of experience have allowed me to There are plenty of other ways to sound like the super amazingly intelligent person I’m sure you are than to incorrectly use When I look over a cover letter that has “utilize” on it, I want to utilize it as toilet paper.I totally understand. Utilise is an alternative form of utilize. Today, I’m happy to say this guy has reverted to the tried and true ‘use’. The verb “user” and “usage” refer rather to using something to the point of it being “worn”–in the sense of “a used item.” I wouldn’t ask my mother in law, “Je peux user ça ?” I would instead ask, “Je peux utiliser ça ?” As this English word and so many others take their origins in French, I suspect we largely no longer understand what it means and that there’s nothing wrong with using the word “utilise.”Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. looking for better ways to I had a boss who said utilize all the time. So I posted it again.The ironic thing here is that, when the word “utilize” is employed, it is generally incorrect, yet still gets the point across. Thank you.I absolutely agree!
I can’t help but think I helped this post become a reality…….
He said he was sick of reading that word, over and over, in place of good ole plain “use.” Thanks for the clarification on the differences in definition.I agree with you totally, though I prefer ‘utility belt’ to ‘usefulness belt’.I prefer to have someone else be the handyman. Example: The authors employed used regression analysis… Nobody liked her.I think I may have just found a new favorite blog. Almost every time I see, or worse, hear the word “utilize” it makes me think that the person using it is trying to sound smarter than they appear to be. All I hear and read is that, that, that!I remember being taught that vs. who in school. Use is a synonym of utilize. But, I think that’s one of the finer points that is quick to be forgotten if English grammar, say, wasn’t your favorite class (something I can’t understand). This just goes to show that teachers aren’t always right.The gravatar shows a picture of a man with a cat. At least he can admit when he’s wrong – he forwarded it to me Boy am I glad to read this! Not! Despite this, I think that I am the only person in our department who doesn’t default to using ‘utilize’ in a futile attempt to make our technical documentation sound more technical. utilize or use The best use for “utilize” is to mean “make use of”: “Ryan utilized his laptop in the library mainly as a pillow to rest his head on.” In most contexts, “use” is simpler and clearer. And so true. All the nail holes in my walls agree.I had a professor in my third or fourth year of college who would rant on about his pet peeve words, and “utilize” was at the top of the list. Love it. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. she was my high school journalism teacher.
!I forgot that I posted this 7 years ago. Do not utilize the word “utilize”!
Delivered to your inbox! Cheney, Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati (1983). . As verbs the difference between utilise and utilize is that utilise is to make useful, to find a practical use for while utilize is (american spelling). Utilize is an alternative form of utilise. Anyway, what is wrong with the word, “use?”During college in the 70s, I remember distinctly a forum assembly where the speaker (President of some eastern university) mentioned misuse of “utilize.” His example of proper usage: “The doctor utilized the pencil to perform open heart surgery.” That has stuck with me all these years. Puts me in mind of George Orwell’s five rules for effective writing:Rule #2: Never use a long word where a short one will do. Self-important? Unfortunately, when I see the word, it’s usually on a computer screen–so that would make it a little more tough to use as toilet paper.I was just railing on my husband about this word!