Copywriter’s Hit List — Lose It, Don’t Use It
…when it comes to the word “UTILIZE” in your marketing copy (or really, anything you write for your business).
First, a definition from good old Merriam-Webster:
utilize (v)–to make USE of, turn to practical USE or account
See a pattern here?
Twice as many letters and three times as many syllables add nothing meaningful to the word “use.” So just use “use”! (Or something more colorful.)
While some -ize words like “strategize” have moved into regular everyday use, -ize words in general scream, “I’m trying make myself to sound important.”
But it’s not about you. Simplicity and clarity achieve what’s really important–engaging your readers so they keep reading and ultimately do what you’re asking them to do.
So it’s definitely time to kill off “utilize” when it comes to your marketing copy (and take a hard look at other -ize words you may be using as well.)
Posted: June 12th, 2009 under Copywriting, Get a Clue!.
Comments: 2
Comments
Comment from kate
Time: June 14, 2009, 10:56 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you and a big HALLELUJAH to you, Tracy for posting this!
My friends know of my disdain—no, my LOATHING! for the current attraction to the word “utilize”. Perhaps, in an aesthetic sense there is a place in the world of words for “utilize’ but in many of the sentences in which it is used, it is simply unappealing. I don’t mind a longer word if it ADDS to an expression, if it supplies beauty or a nuance that is not available to the shorter word, but this is NOT happening with the word “utilize” these days. It sounds like a cheap way of trying to sound well-spoken or professional; instead it’s embarrassingly gauche, like Peter Griffin in the Hamptons.
Maybe sometime I’ll tell you how I really feel.
Great job, Tracy!
Thanks, again! Kate (WordCamp2009 Kate)
Comment from admin
Time: June 16, 2009, 12:55 pm
Hi Kate,
Thanks for your comments! I can’t really find a good reason to use utilize except to sound more like you’re writing a resume or consulting memo.
You’re right, longer words are fine when they add to the meaning of what’s being said and are still recognizable by most people.
Plus it’s odd because most times -ize is added to turn a noun into a verb. But use is already a verb.
Anyway, glad to know I’m not the only one who can’t stand it!
Tracy
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