Use

Posted previously as a LinkedIn rant. keywords: language, academic writing, usage.

Use (/juːz/) is among the top 20 most commonly used verbs in the English language. It’s only got one syllable, and it rhymes with clues, blues, and schmooze. People like it, they know what it means, and they use it all the time (see, like I just did).

Of course, this is true for people whose intention is to speak English. If, instead, they want to speak Acadamese, then they avoid using use like it’s the plague.

Why use use when they can use one of its so-called synonyms—or, as I like to call them, its polysyllabic imposters: the fancy-sounding words that are taking use’s God-ordained place in sentences all over academic writing—and for no good reason.

They are (in ascending order of how much I want to pull my own teeth when I see them): utilize, exploit, employ, and (I’m literally heaving) leverage.

Many academics are convinced that using use makes their writing and their work unsophisticated. To distinguish their writing from how people normally speak, they feel the need to use other verbs. Instead of using Deep Learning, for example, they utilize it. Instead of using data, they leverage it. And so on. Here’s the reality: most of the time, this doesn’t have the intended effect, and it only makes the writing worse.

It’s possible—and this is not worth getting into anyway—but it’s possible that some of these synonyms of use convey a special meaning that the humble use does not, making their use (/juːs/) justified. I don’t think that’s true in 99% of cases.

You don’t believe me? Pull up any paper—your own (if you’re wont to use these imposters) or someone else’s—and Ctrl-F any of these words in places where use could have been used. Then replace those words with use. I bet you that the sentences will read better most of the time, and their meaning will be clearer. Or, at the very least, they will read just as well (minus the extra syllables). I did that with two of my own published papers and found an instance of leverage and another of exploit that I’d happily replace with use if I could. Because use sounds much better.

Are you still not convinced? Ok, here’s the real test.

You want to “utilize a model” and “leverage a dataset”? By all means, go ahead. But be honest with yourself: if nature calls while you’re writing these sentences, will you utilize the toilet and leverage toilet paper after you’re done—or will you use them?

This may sound facetious, but my point is that if these words were truly synonyms of use, then those sentences wouldn’t sound so absurd.

There’s nothing wrong with use. You can even use use multiple times in the same paragraph—or even the same sentence—and it’s still fine. You don’t need different varieties of such a generic verb that already works, and especially not in a scientific paper. Save your creative energy for something else.