Comments on: "Utilize" vs. "Use"

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:09:00 +0000

“Use” can still be used to achieve the same meaning as th “utilize” sentence in the example, and a better sentence results: “The teachers found no use for the computers.” Same meaning, yet the new sentence has an active verb and a simpler, more muscular style.

The problem with “utilize” is not that it is functionally interchangeable with “use”. The problem is that it always sounds like pretentious claptrap, and there is always a better way.

By: catsav

catsav — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:47:00 +0000

I, personally, have always found “utilize” to be more impactful than “use.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:00:00 +0000

This morning, my boss said “notate,” when he clearly meant “note.” I also — no joke — heard him refer to himself as “the decider” of our department. Sadly, it was not even a post-ironic Dubya reference.

By: SB

SB — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:54:00 +0000

I no longer say “orient.” Now I say “asia.”

By: Ike

Ike — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:45:00 +0000

“Utilize”-abusers are also more likely to say “orientate” instead of “orient.”