Words To Remove From Spell Checker Dictionary

This wiki's SpellingChecker includes a few things that are typos of correct words. Here's a very short list. (When adding to this list, please note the correct spelling.)

• "utilizing": The correct spelling is "using".

First, saying that one should say "using" and not "utilizing" is a stylistic correction, not a spelling correction. Both are in fact correct words of the English language.

Second, it is not true that "utilize" should always be replaced by "use" for stylistic reasons, it is merely often true.

-- DougMerritt

Utilize means to make usable or to give utility, not to use. People often screw this up because the differences in meaning are subtle and opaque, so the word has now a degenerative meaning to use.

e.g. "He utilized the felt to make a hat," means he found a way to use the felt to make a hat, say by cutting it. However, for real purposes, this is identical to the sentence, "He used the felt to make a hat." However, there are meaningful differences between the words "utilize" and "use", such as when one discovers how to use an object that is normally not used for the purpose. "He utilized the car engine to make an atomic bomb," is different from "He used the car engine to make an atomic bomb," in the sense that the latter is mundane while the former suggests extra creativity.

I assume the original complaint is that people try to sound fancy using bigger words; "utilize" when they only meant "use", "this point in time" rather than "now", etc.

More whining about "fancy talk" at http://CommunityWiki.org/PlainTalk .

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WordsToAddToSpellCheckerDictionary