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Absolutely. And then consider those who speak English as a second language.
There are enough weird things about English to learn and remember without
throwing in words you made up just because you feel like it. One division of our
company tells people to "pend" things that are to be done on a future date. I
haven't been able to find this word in a dictionary. I think this would stump
native speakers, to say nothing of those for whom English is not their first
language.
In documents over which I have some editorial control, I just get rid of coined
words such as "impactful" and "pend." When I don't have editorial control, but I
have an opportunity to make tactful suggestions, I suggest alternate wording. So
far though I haven't been able to get rid of "pend." "Oh, all of our people know
what that means," is the typical response.
Just trying to communicate, technically...
Jo
--
Jo Baer
Senior Technical Writer
TCF National Bank
Minneapolis, Minnesota
jbaer -at- mailbox1 -dot- tcfbank -dot- com
If you can remain calm, you
just don't have all the facts.
Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com wrote:
> Brigitte Johnston offered this shudder-provoking example:
> "We need to make note of just how impactful this is to our business."
>
> "Impactful" drives me nuts too, not just because it's an ugly and
> unnecessary neologism, but also because it's vague. The example sentence
> could mean virtually anything:
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