Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 23:19:50 +0200 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr> To: Greg Pavelcak <gpav@som.umass.edu> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Use/Utilize Message-ID: <20020405231950.B63981@lpt.ens.fr> In-Reply-To: <20020405183857.GA58446@oitunix.oit.umass.edu>; from gpav@som.umass.edu on Fri, Apr 05, 2002 at 01:38:57PM -0500 References: <20020405183857.GA58446@oitunix.oit.umass.edu>
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> For my own peace of mind, could someone provide an example where S uses A, > but S does not utilize A. Or the other way 'round. Actually I think the distinction is probably one of Brett's and Terry's fantasies. They mean the same in ordinary English and I'll be surprised if there is a distinction in law (IANAL but nor are they). Merriam-Webster's definition of "utilize" is "to make use of : turn to practical use or account." I have never heard of any different definition. In the entry for "use" (verb), the possible fine distinction is made: "UTILIZE may suggest the discovery of a new, profitable, or practical use for something <an old wooden bucket utilized as a planter>" -- but this is only an occasional suggestion of a fine shade of meaning, and even in this sentence "utilize" can readily be replaced with "use"; I'll believe there is a legal distinction when I'm pointed to an authoritative legal lexicon telling me of one. Just for fun, in modern French there is a verb "utiliser" which means the same, but no word which sounds similar to "use". A user (eg a computer user) is a "utilisateur". According to M-W, again, the English "utilise" comes from this, while the English "use" comes from the old English "us" which in turn is from old French. Rahul To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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