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Subject:Re: Invoke or Use From:"Virginia L. Krenn" <asdxvlk -at- OKWAY -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU> Date:Mon, 14 Nov 1994 10:39:42 -0600
These two verbs have very different meanings. Invoke means to call forth.
It is from the Latin vocare meaning to call. Other words with this root
are vocal, voice, etc.
After something is invoked then it could be used.
Substitute the word "demon" for "software utility" in your two examples to
see the difference.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Author: Ellen Snell Adams <SnellAdams -at- aol -dot- com> at SMTP
I'm a software documentation specialist. In my place of work, we have started
a little debate over the terms "invoke" and "use." One of my esteemed
colleagues says that she thinks the terms are synonymous. I do not. "Invoke,"
to me implies the beginning of the process... the very start, while "use"
connotes a general utilitarian verb for any time in the process.
What do other tech writers out there say? The context of the verb is this:
"when you invoke the software utility"
or
"when you use the software utility"
