2010/03/18

This is me, just sayin

Okay. I have a rant built up to overflowing. This. Is. A. Language. Rant.

1. Say "USE," not "utilize"
"Utilize is not an elegant variation of the word use; it has its own distinct meaning. When you utilize something, you make do with something not normally used for the purpose, e.g., you utilize a dime when the bloody screwdriver is nowhere to be found. If the screwdriver were there, you'd use it, not utilize a stupid dime for the purpose. Use use when you mean use, and utilize only when it's properly used to mean--to use something not normally used. The computer went off-line, so they utilized Mr. Wang's abacus, the one he liked to use. Despite the temporary breakdown, the computer's use-rate was up (not its utilization-rate)" (From the book Getting the Words Right, seen here, and thank you ever so much, T.A.R. Cheney and Burnham and Hutson).
2. The idomatic expression is, "fleshed out," not "flushed out." You might flush out the birds in the stand of brush so that you can shoot at them, but if you are making a point more clear by expanding on it, then you have fleshed out your point. You had the skeleton of an idea, and you put muscle on it.

And last but not least,
3. The expression is, "for all intents and purposes," not "for all intensive purposes."

I'm just sayin'.

1 comment:

Carol Whipps said...

LOL, You're good! (I'm just sayin').