Printable View
First, let's face it: an English dictionary has more redunancies than a White House mainframe power supply. Still, some are headscratching-worthy.
My personal annoyance: "utilize." Gets used all the time, and I've hated it since my tech business days when our sales guys loved throwing it around. Still, I invite you to look at Webster and tell me what it's got to say that "use" doesn't cover
yeah, "utilize" is sorta inescapable. I see "utilization weight" used regularly as a substitute for the sum of gross weights for large shipments. since each piece of cargo has a net weight, a tare weight, and a gross weight... utilization gets used to account for gross weights in a way that doesn't corrupt the data of smaller units in the shipment.
from a purely data management perspective it makes a lot of sense. but it can feel really redundant when you're just having a conversation.
I had that feeling when I first saw the word "simp". I thought to myself, "but we already have the word [B]uxorious[/B]! why would we want to replace that!" ;-)
[because it is too context specific, it only applies to men who are overly fond of, and devoted to, their wives. so, I guess "simp" needed to come into being!]
[QUOTE=DrNewGod;6686625]First, let's face it: an English dictionary has more redunancies than a White House mainframe power supply. Still, some are headscratching-worthy.
My personal annoyance: "utilize." Gets used all the time, and I've hated it since my tech business days when our sales guys loved throwing it around. Still, I invite you to look at Webster and tell me what it's got to say that "use" doesn't cover[/QUOTE]
There is a difference between the two words, even if it is slight. "utilize" means to make PRACTICAL use of [something]. "Use" has a [URL="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/use"]much broader definition[/URL].
However, it is true that the English Language has some redundancy, mostly because of all the borrowed words and the evolution of American (or other variants) from British English.
Still, most seemingly redundant words do tend to have different meanings from each other.
[QUOTE=Tami;6686760]There is a difference between the two words, even if it is slight. "utilize" means to make PRACTICAL use of [something]. "Use" has a [URL="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/use"]much broader definition[/URL].
However, it is true that the English Language has some redundancy, mostly because of all the borrowed words and the evolution of American (or other variants) from British English.
Still, most seemingly redundant words do tend to have different meanings from each other.[/QUOTE]
It's so slight as to be bullshit. Its only reason for its existence is to make the speaker sound smarter than they are.
[QUOTE=DrNewGod;6686792]It's so slight as to be bullshit. Its only reason for its existence is to make the speaker sound smarter than they are.[/QUOTE]
There are at least two types of English. One sometimes referred to as Low English or Common English or Working Class English. You can also call it everyday English.
The Other is sometimes called High English or Academic English or Professional English or Upper Class English. That is when you are trying to sound impressive.
[In this day and age I suspect that there are a number of other variations].
I wouldn't say it's redundant, but it's a word that people use when they want to sound smart.
I am always surprised by all the new English words I meet everyday… True, some words are very rare but the English language feels really like a vacuum cleaner that has taken everything. And without having polishing them: the pronounciation is not sometimes that easy to guess…
[QUOTE=KurtW95;6686905]I wouldn't say it's redundant, but it's a word that people use when they want to sound smart.[/QUOTE]
The words that I tend to use are the words that look closer to French, my language and it’s not a will to sound to smart.
Much of this is the result of English getting so many loan words, with the original germanic base combining with Roman vocabulary. This leads to some redundancy, in addition to incredible opportunities for nuance and expression.
There are also words or terms that are used incorrectly, replacing the correct terms.
I hate the term "Very unique." So, since "unique" means "one of a kind", very unique must mean that there are not any at all.
People use unique when they mean rare. So they have to exaggerate when they mean unique and say very unique.
Also, in college, I had an English professor who would not accept the word "Persons" in anything we wrote. He would say, "The plural of person is PEOPLE."
He would also not accept the word "kid" as applied to a human child, declaring, "A kid is a baby goat. A human baby is a baby or child."
Clearly, he would not accept popular usage or that words change in meaning and mean whatever a reasonable number of people have come to accept that they mean.
[LOL, thank you Powerboy, for beating me to the punch on thread derailment. now I don't feel quite as guilty/selfish ;-) ]
in some ways I'm more bothered by blatant and agenda-driven word substitutions that don't stem from natural usage.
I was just reading "Surveillance Capitalism" (Shoshanna Zuboff) the other day and the author uses an expression "Rational Capitalism". it was abundantly clear (in context) that "rational" was meant to be a substitution for the words "fair" or "equitable"... and I found myself asking "why do you refuse to use the word 'fair'? that would make your argument clearer and more forceful. is it because that makes it a definitive value judgement? is this because value judgements tend to be moral positions that can be condemned or ignored? I can imagine WHY somebody would choose this sort of subversive word substitution... but it still bothered me.
using 'rational' to mean something completely different from its dictionary definition seems... dishonest and weird."
I would imagine that a more dogmatic or traditional socialist or Marxist wouldn't consider "rational capitalism" as something to be strived for! which tells me she's probably a social democrat. not only would I not be bothered by a Social Democrat using the word "Fair" as a modifier for Capitalism when it was appropriate... I would EXPECT a social democrat to use a phrase like "Fair Capitalism". "Rational Capitalism" just makes it sound like an odd mixture of cop-out and dog-whistle.
when we have existing words that convey the idea more clearly... use those words! sometimes I think academics are TRYING to obscure their real argument in an attempt to subvert criticism.
[QUOTE=DrNewGod;6686792]It's so slight as to be bullshit. Its only reason for its existence is to make the speaker sound smarter than they are.[/QUOTE]
"We will use our resources."
"We will utilize our resources."
Somehow, the former conjures an image of "We will use them and, then, they'll be gone. We won't have them anymore." The latter conjures an image of properly utilizing what we have to work with.
One of the nice things about English is that its vocabulary is rich in synonyms. This lets you choose just the right word among several possibilities with subtle (usually implied) differences in meaning, and it lets you pick a different word if you have used the same word too many times in the same paragraph or if it sounds awkward in a particular sentence (such as if it is surrounded by other words that sound too much like it). What I [I]don't[/I] like is using an uncommon or lengthy word or a phrase needlessly when a simple word means exactly the same thing, for instance as when people say "at this point in time" rather than "now".
[QUOTE=Totoro Man;6686758]I had that feeling when I first saw the word "simp". I thought to myself, "but we already have the word [B]uxorious[/B]! why would we want to replace that!" ;-)[/QUOTE]
Doesn't simp come from simpering?
Have I misunderstood the meaning of "simp"? I thought it was just a short form for "simpleton".
[URL="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simp"]It means both or either[/URL]:
1. a foolish or stupid person : simpleton
2. to show excessive devotion to or longing for someone or something