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Subject:Re: "See" and "Utilize" From:Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH2 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 16 Feb 1996 07:43:40 MST
Kathy Fisher <KDFisher -at- aol -dot- com> wrote-->
> If I see the word "see" used ONE MORE TIME in documentation to reference
> another document I'm gonna lose my lunch! We "see" with our eyes. We
> "refer" to a document.
"See" references are very common in indexes; perhaps that usage
has migrated into the document. As long as what you are telling
the reader to "see" is contained within the same document, I
don't have a problem with it. But to say "see" when you are
referring them to a completely different document could be very
irritating. Especially when you don't have ready access to the
referenced document.
> I also wish the word "utilize" would be permanently banned and replaced with
> "use." The trend in technical writing is less is better. Why use
> $64,000-dollar words when a $5-dollar word will do the trick???
Agree completely. I've heard the argument that "utilize" means
to use something for a purpose for which it wasn't designed (as
in "I utilized a hair pin to pick the lock"), but it sounds
pompous any way you use it.
Bev
=*= Beverly Parks -- bparks -at- huachuca-emh2 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "I am not speaking for my employer." =*=
