FW: USAGE- Wisdom Tooth

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

OPINION
In the realm of English usage, I guess I'm a 
hopeless revanchist.

I picture all those shareholders being restrained 
under increasing, painful pressure, doomed to 
erupt eventually in an excruciating and messy way... 
probably smelly, too.  "Impacted", indeed.

The first time I heard the words "asteroid" and 
"impacted" in the same sentence, I wondered what 
the heck an asteroid was doing, struggling to 
get OUT of a tight space.

If there was any way to find out for sure, I'd 
bet my next year's salary that somebody was given 
the job of telling the press that "a big rock 
had slammed into the moon", and decided on the 
spot that "... body impacted the lunar surface" 
sounded so much more highfalutin and important
and "duh, scientific-like, duh".

It's not a problem that words are used in 
novel ways that bring some new clarity or 
efficiency to verbal and written communication.
It's a problem that perfectly fine words are 
misused because "Duh, they sound sorta like 
the thing I wanna say, so Duh, they'll do", 
and the new meaning destroys the usefulness of the old.

I still haven't made peace with "hopefully"...

I acknowledge that usage changes, but I resent 
the fact that so much of the change I've seen 
over my lifetime (so far...) has come out of 
nothing more valuable than stupidity and carelessness.
Apparently, though, those are mighty and compelling 
forces.

Of the hundreds of words that have been co-opted 
for new uses, perhaps three have represented 
actual gains in utility (and I can't remember 
which ones they are, just now). All the rest seem 
to have sacrificed nuance and shades of meaning on 
the altars of marketing-speak or of some kind of 
"affirmative action".

By that I mean "Hire our newscasters and commentators 
on the basis of looks and how well the camera loves 
'em. We must exclude no one just because they are 
linguistically challenged in their mother tongue..."
Apparently, after that edict went into effect, it 
took no time at all for it to filter into hiring 
practices for teachers... or was that the other way 
around?

Oh DRAT! I'm ranting again, aren't I?

Anyway, I'll be holding onto what I perceive as 
proper -- if somewhat conservative -- usage in 
my documents.   I think it lends a certain dignified 
and substantial tone even to marketing docs. 
Certainly, proper usage has pride-of-place in 
technical docs.

With that said, however, I agree that we should 
keep to the terminology of the industry in which 
we write. As for what goes around that terminology,
and holds it together, well let's try to get those 
parts right, shall we? Preserve them from the descent 
into mush.

/kevin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Johnson [mailto:johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com]

> I don't know, the first use of impacted I ever heard, back in 
> the 60's, had
> to do with large chunks of rock hitting the moon creating 
> impact craters. Of
> course, my own experience may not mean it is right. 
[snip]
> So, to put a 
> techwr-l spin
> on this, we need to spend time talking with our SME folks so 
> we know the
> language they are speaking. An astronomer will use words 
> differently than a
> physician which means we need to know the context words are 
> being used in.
> And, we need to be aware of how words can be misinterpreted 
> by different
> audiences.

Like those asteroids and shareholders who find themselves 
painfully crammed into tight spaces?
 
> > Another correct usage is the medical term "impacted bowels,"
> > which refers to
> > what clinicians call "substantial constipation." I, too,
> > shudder when I read
> > or hear people using the word "impacted" in anything other
> > than a medical
> > context  . . .  for all the obvious reasons!
 
> > | I heard somewhere that the word "impacted" should be used
> > only in relation
> > | to dental hygiene- more specifically "an impacted wisdom tooth".
 
> > | For other situations, "affected" or "influenced" should
> > suffice.  (Re: John
> > | Posada's earlier post- impacted stake holders..).  So,
> > whenever I use
> > | "impacted", I feel a twinge of guilt.  Anyone on my side?

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