Oh, boy, here we go again… another perfectly good noun transmogrified into an inelegant verb by the corporate buzz-speakers. From the document I’m proofing at work this afternoon:
“Can you evidence your compliance to… these standards?”
Evidence your compliance? Do you think they mean supply evidence of your compliance?
If you need me for the next few minutes, I’ll be beating my head on a copy of Merriam-Webster’s.
[Update: Huh. According to Merriam-Webster’s, evidence was a verb, once upon a time. Circa 1610, to be precise, when it meant “to offer evidence of : PROVE, EVINCE syn see SHOW.”
Somehow, I doubt that whoever wrote the whitepaper I found the term in knew that, though.]
I guess the author had “evince” in mind, but since that word is becoming archaic, he/she chose the closest plausible-sounding alternative.
Also, I think many people believe that obscure language elevates the tone of their writing. This is why Strunk & White should be required reading for anyone holding a pen.
Actually, Robert, I doubt this guy had “evince” in mind at all. I think this is another case of a business or technical writer who isn’t quite as smart as they believe themselves to be re-purposing a word to sound, I don’t know, cool or buzzy or something. I see this sort of biz-speak nonsense all the time…
The thing is, that’s how language grows. We “toast” toast because someone in ye olde times did the same thing this schmuck did.
(Actually, I stand corrected: OED shows the verb “toast,” referring to grilled bread, appearing in writing ten years before the noun (1420 as opposed to 1430). The verb referring to grilling or burning in general gets into written English by 1398, but it goes all the way back to Latin. I love the OED.)
Hmph. I suppose so. I still don’t like it, though. Because that’s how I am. If guys like me were in charge, we’d probably still be saying “methinks” and “odds bodkins.”
If we’re ever going to “grow” our language we have to “leverage” creativity and “utilize” every word. That way we can really “impact” our readers, you know?
I’m with you. Formally. But outside of business situations, like in conversation, I’d never correct one of my hillbilly friends for speaking in fluent Utahnics. In speech, anything goes.