Most objectionable neologism ending in "-ize"

i think "monetize" is my favorite word of all time

it would be hard to come up with a word that better represents all that the 21st century has to offer us

the greeks launched western civilization, and here we are, thousands of years later, having completed it with the word "monetize"

this is easily problematize for me but only because a good friend went to grad school and when he came back he was saying it every two minutes.

max OTM

utilize is a regular-ass word, i don't know why it's even here

encentivize and monetize and itemize are all even at their worst useful, phonetically appealing words

problematize is easily the ugliest out of this lot

ha i managed to misspell one

cant say ive ever heard problematize before but i like it, the rest are so solvey

"use" is a regular-ass word

"utilize" is for power-users of english

cant say ive ever heard problematize before but i like it, the rest are so solvey

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:57 PM (4 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha i forget that u didnt go to college sometimes, i bet you wouldve liked it, this is the #1 word of college besides "discourse"

incentivize is probably the most heinous on a purely aesthetic level

though problematize is a photo-finish runner-up

damn max you are like the most cheerful cynic I ever knew

haha i forget that u didnt go to college sometimes, i bet you wouldve liked it, this is the #1 word of college besides "discourse"

paradigm ftw btw fyi

cynicized

problematize, in a strictly poetic sense, is easily the least harmonious of these imo

itemize sounds silly but there's no other word for the thing you do with tax deductions

cant say ive ever heard problematize before but i like it, the rest are so solvey

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:57 PM (4 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha i forget that u didnt go to college sometimes, i bet you wouldve liked it, this is the #1 word of college besides "discourse"

― ☂ (max), Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:58 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that does sound kinda grand

itemize sounds silly but there's no other word for the thing you do with tax deductions

how is it diff. from "list"?

maximize

enumerate

strongoize

Given that I've gotten unreasonably attached to "incentivize" due to my fervent defense in the other thread, it now occurs to me that there are probably a lot of people who both use "problematize" in a meaningless way AND mock the use of "incentivize"

not the regular-ass word, i mean to make something more like maxim gorky

it was a bittersweet day when the city of nizhnii novgorod was demaximized

laxativize is a regular-ass word

this "we can't have TWO words with the same meanings!" shit is a real zero sum game, let's not get stupid about this

voted "utilize," it's a load of boxwank almost everywhere but a scrabble board

btw i've been to college and i've never heard the word problematize in my life. what does it mean? create problems or solve them or what?

itemize sounds silly but there's no other word for the thing you do with tax deductions

how is it diff. from "list"?

― love in a grain elevator (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:01 AM Bookmark

It refers to taking a bunch of individual deductions for different things ("itemizing your deductions") as opposed to taking the standard deductions. When you say "I itemize your deductions" you don't just mean "I list my deductions," you mean "my individual potential tax deductions add up to enough money that it's worth it for me to claim all of them instead of taking the standard amount"

all ize on me

When you say "I itemize MY deductions" rather

lampize

if you got a problem with utilize you might as well be dissing utility in which case what the fuck

this "we can't have TWO words with the same meanings!" shit is a real zero sum game, let's not get stupid about this

― let a :) be your ☂ (some dude), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 14:04 (47 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's stupid when there's a perfectly good word that does a perfectly good job in a perfectly good context and then some spanner in a pinstriped suit and madonna-face-mic invents a new word with a Z near the end and trademarks it

It refers to taking a bunch of individual deductions for different things ("itemizing your deductions") as opposed to taking the standard deductions. When you say "I itemize your deductions" you don't just mean "I list my deductions," you mean "my individual potential tax deductions add up to enough money that it's worth it for me to claim all of them instead of taking the standard amount"

right I mean I do itemized deductions every year - I list them, instead of taking standard deductions - I'm unclear as to how "list" isn't sufficient to the task here

pedantize

btw i've been to college and i've never heard the word problematize in my life. what does it mean? create problems or solve them or what?

― let a :) be your ☂ (some dude), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:05 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you have "problematized" my statement that problematize is the favorite word in college

more so when aforementioned pinstriped toolbox takes a noun and turns it into a verb for no apparent reason xxp

Also I think in general "itemize" carries a connotation of breaking down into a list something that might not otherwise be broken down. E.g. you can "itemize" your expenses from a work trip as opposed to just seeking reimbursement for the whole amount you spent. Whereas you wouldn't "itemize" your shopping list.

"atomize" is a pretty good word for blowing shit up

yeah itemise/itemize/whatever indicates the activity that results in a list rather than the list itself xp

Even though I don't like incentivize, I think there's a little bit of unique nuance in its meaning and use -- sorry, aero. But "utilize" just doesn't bring anything to a sentence that "use" doesn't, except wasted syllables.

should we quote the simpsons itt y/n?

i think you've problematized the definition of atomized there, max

it's stupid when there's a perfectly good word that does a perfectly good job in a perfectly good context and then some spanner in a pinstriped suit and madonna-face-mic invents a new word with a Z near the end and trademarks it

I was gonna try to cast Hurting's complaint that people who dislike "incentivize" actually dislike it because they're liberal artsy business-hating types but this post is kind of exhibit A in defense of that accusation

which I reject btw as I said in a long post on the other thread, specialized vocabulary is not in itself bad and only sounds ridiculously til you speak the language. "incentivize" is still crap imo tho

people are intimated by power-utilizers of the english language, its understandable

*intimidated

*intimidized

I'm being incentivized to get the fuck off the internet so I'm going to peace-outtisize from this thread, byes everybody

liberal artsy business-hating types are by far the worst offendizers in this respect anyway! "problematize" is entirely on the head of the humanities. it's just writers who get bitchy.

"atomize" is a pretty good word for blowing shit up

― ☂ (max), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:09 AM Bookmark

I love the word "atomize" -- I am fond of complaining that learning law (at least as it is taught in law school) is mostly about "the atomization of common sense"

i bet there are some funny dilbert strips about jargon

peace-outsize = aws btw

scott adams has problematized his own work by misogynizing his public utterances

writers are the most frightened by power-utilizers like myself because they are worried if we change all the words then soon their books will be irrelevant

well i have some news for them: their books are already irrelevant, by virtue of being books

i like atomize too; also vaporize. as a kid i could hardly believe how cool it was that you could own something called an "atomizer" and it wasn't even a big deal

i like to humanize language by turning it into pictures of things

well i have some news for them: their books are already irrelevant, by virtue of being books

― ☂ (max), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:16 AM (30 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

books: problematized

"picturize" lamp

wittgenstized

i'm not so much the "liberal artsy business-hating" type as the "have worked in highly insane private enterprise that embeds wankwords at all levels mainly in order to avoid discussing real issues like pay freezes, cancelled xmas parties &c." type

knock urselves out gize
http://www.wordbyletter.com/suffixe.php

so when i see a made-up word in a business-loving context i am immediately suspicious xp

xp oh holy shit "diabolize"

i wonder if hatred of power utilizers is why granola types are so against pasteurized milk

day is made by "marsupialize" and "excremintize"

http://www.ministryofsluggo.com/MOS/sluggo.jpg

sluggardize

frogbize

"judaize"

cant say ive ever heard problematize before but i like it, the rest are so solvey

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

would love to hear problematize used by arnold in an action-movie zinger

please excuse my friend, he has been problematized

all of these are abominable but "problematize" is easily the worst

i remember reading that student paper that DFW graded and DFW called problematize a "bullshit academic word" - i know he literally wished death on that student at some point in the process of grading that paper, might not have been for that offense though

voted "utilize," it's a load of boxwank almost everywhere but a scrabble board

― the presidential candidate inside me (WmC), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:04 AM (39 seconds ago) Bookmark

this conjured a hypthetical scrabble scenario in which a player's set of letters allowed them to score a bingo in the middle of the board w/ "UTILIZE" while nabbing "P,R,E" on the re-up & then adding that prefix to score a highly respectable 144 points b/w both turns (esp.considering only one tile w/ high point value). - #DORKING.OUT

would love to hear problematize used by arnold in an action-movie zinger

― Ayatollah Colm Meaney (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:25 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you said youd kill me last!

im about to problematized that statement

would like to see an arnold movie called "the problematizer"

"judaize"

― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:23 AM Bookmark

Reminds me of a related awful usage, "The ___-ization [or, worse, icization] of ____"

izeatize

tbf many of these are not actually neologisms

nbd ill just neologlize em

Also I think in general "itemize" carries a connotation of breaking down into a list something that might not otherwise be broken down. E.g. you can "itemize" your expenses from a work trip as opposed to just seeking reimbursement for the whole amount you spent. Whereas you wouldn't "itemize" your shopping list.

― mississippi delta law grad (Hurting 2), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:08 AM (54 minutes ago)

"outline"

http://www.pr-squared.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/easy_2Dbutton_small.jpg

problematize is by far the most annoying oh hey thats not a word one on the list

What the hell are "prioritize" and "itemize" doing on this list?

And "list" alone isn't equivalent to "itemize."

Anyway, problematize = GTFO.

xp

Oh, sorry, I ctrl+f'ed "itemize" but didn't see Hurting's post somehow.

problematize is by far the most annoying oh hey thats not a word one on the list

― lemon kerrang! (jjjusten), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 1:08 AM (5 minutes ago)

it's on the list and it's prob the best choice!

Oh, sorry, I ctrl+f'ed "itemize" but didn't see Hurting's post somehow.

― o_O the humanity (Jesse), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 1:14 AM (1 minute ago)

think about it. item. why add "ize"? why???

i dont blame you for not following my tortured sentence thing there but i am agreeing with u

oldologism xp

problematize = annoying hey thats not a word = a

a is on the list

is what i meant.

i used to be coherent thx internets :(

coherentize yrself for fucks sake

haha ok

haaaa

why u got to profanitize this conversation man

some words are fine just the way they are

sorry 4 committing cohericide

"item" is not a verb and there is no verb that i'm aware of that as concisely expresses what "itemize" does.

Actually after a little Googlizing, I noticed "enumerate." Which is fine, though it sounds overly formal.

"Simonize" needs to be on this list.

itemize her for me when i'm gone, biff

"enumerate your expenses" and "list your expenses" don't have quite the same meaning as "itemize your expenses"

"itemize" seems to have been around since the mid-1800s, if that makes any difference.

Actionize.

Utilize! Damn!

it's USE

I've never seen it spelled with a z either!

I think the Z is American but I also see Zs in words elsewhere so

There are two groups of words here, and these should not be confused.

The first group consists of words which are always spelled with -ise in all varieties of English. The most frequent verbs in this group are advertise, advise, apprise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, improvise, supervise, surmise, surprise and televise, to which we may add the nouns demise, enterprise, franchise and merchandise, some of which are occasionally used as verbs. These words do not contain the Greek suffix -ize and may never be spelled with -ize. British writers attempting to use American spelling sometimes slip up here and write, for example, *advertize, which is never acceptable.

The second, and much larger, group consists of verbs containing the Greek suffix -ize. Among these are realize, civilize, ostracize, jeopardize, organize and trivialize; there are far too many to list here, and new ones are coined almost at will, like hospitalize, finalize and prioritize. These words must be spelled with -ize in American English. In British English, the spelling with -ize is traditional, and is still preferred in many conservative quarters, for example at the Oxford University Press. But the newer spelling in -ise is now widespread in Britain and is preferred in other quarters. British writers may use whichever spelling they prefer, unless they are writing for a publishing house which insists upon one or the other.

too long and who gives a shit

the "-ise"/"-ize" thing makes for a great clue in a murder mystery.

really feel like "Ronisize" shd be a word

lol

fond of most "-ize words, provided they are uttered by professor frink

too long and who gives a shit

― ledge, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:12 (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah that's essentially why i got off the z/s pedantry bandwagon

Ha, I put "problematize" into the "thesaurus" of my Macbook's OAD-based Dictionary:

problematize
verb
WORD NOTE
problematize
The blame for this awful neologism lies with academia, where the word serves no apparent purpose except to demonstrate one's mastery of obscurantist jargon. Some random titles from the Internet: "Problematizing Formalism: A Double-Cross of the Genre Boundaries"; "Problematizing reifications and naturalizations out of focus... "; "Problematizing Said's Exilic Category." Equally horrible is the related noun, "the problematic." Then there's "to privilege" (q.v.). Corporate as well as academic culture bears a share of responsibility for this verb-ification of nouns, such as "to incentivize," or—worse—"to incent" (meaning, I guess, to provide motivation for), along with "to prioritize," "to reference," and "to impact." Some of these words have actually made it into the New Oxford American Dictionary, but that's no excuse for using them.
— JS

I've been out of undergrad long enough that I actually forgot about the existence of this word.

utilize
This is a puff-word. Since it does nothing that good old use doesn't do, its extra letters and syllables don't make a writer seem smarter. Rather, using utilize makes you seem like either a pompous twit or someone so insecure that he'll use pointlessly big words in an attempt to look smart. The same is true for the noun utilization, for vehicle as used for car, for residence as used for home, for indicate as used for say, for presently, at present, at this time, and at the present time as used for now, and so on. What's worth remembering about puff-words is something that good writing teachers spend a lot of time drumming into undergrads: "Formal writing" does not mean gratuitously fancy writing; it means clean, clear, maximally considerate writing.
— DFW

I didn't even know these "Word Notes" existed until now, although I use the dictionary all the time.

Tbf, though, I can't think of another single word that means exactly what "problematize" means ("To render problematic; to view, interpret, or analyse (an issue, discipline, etc.) as a problem or system of problems to be solved" - OED). "Question" and "challenge" aren't exactly the same thing.

voted "utilize". Let me precisify my answer. The other words here are the result of appending the suffix "ize" for the purpose of verbifying a noun. Whereas such verbification is unnecessary for "use", since it's already a verb. Hence "utilize" is redundant, unlike the others.

I think I work in the wrong part of the humanities to hear this kind of speech, like, ever, & I've been shielded from bureaucratic matters for the most part also---

though the takeaway from that may be that I don't read contracts very carefully

As much as I loathe both the concept and word "monetize" and would love to erasize it from the English language, I have a 20-odd year history of hatizing the word "utilize" in an empassionized manner.

voted "utilize". Let me precisify my answer. The other words here are the result of appending the suffix "ize" for the purpose of verbifying a noun. Whereas such verbification is unnecessary for "use", since it's already a verb. Hence "utilize" is redundant, unlike the others.

OTM. "Prioritize" is a perfectly fine word imo. I was going to mention that "contenderize" doesn't turn up in either the OED or the OAD, then I saw the poster's name and assumed it was a joke. However, it does seem to turn up in a bunch of hunting-related discussions when I type it into Google!

Also, I really need to start sleeping better.

-
xpost

I was struggling to think of a better word for prioritize but the rest can gtfo

(Ignore my run-on sentence.)

problematize

Is this for real? What does it mean?

The more common current meaning (from OED):

"To render problematic; to view, interpret, or analyse (an issue, discipline, etc.) as a problem or system of problems to be solved"

1910 G. Saintsbury in Cambr. Hist. Eng. Lit. V. 200 Hamlet himself is capable of being problematised to the nth.
1954 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 19 520/2 (note) These actions obviously differ from action which do not deal with men, but with other kinds of objects:‥actions of problematizing scientific theories,‥and the like.
1988 Paragraph 11 239 It problematizes the notion of place; when we read the index we do not know whether or not the entries which it gives are themselves detached, displaced fragments.
2000 Wasafiri Spring 69/3 Immigrants problematise nostalgic notions of exile through the disclosure of their specific lived experiences.

(The other listed definition:

1. intr. To speak of or postulate problems. rare.

1631 B. Jonson New Inne ii. iv. 64 Tip. Heare him problematize. Pr. Blesse vs, what's that? Tip. Or syllogize, elenchize.

2001 K. Bennett & P. Shurmer-Smith in M. Limb & C. Dwyer Qualitative Methodol. for Geographers vi. xvi. 254 It's easy to problematize‥, to talk about evocative writing but less easy to do.
2004 G. Dehler et al. in C. Grey & E. Antonacopoulou Essent. Readings in Managem. Learning iii. ix. 181 The ability to problematize is vital to gaining an awareness of the intricate underpinnings of perception.

1631? And it qualifies as a neologism?

Tbf, though, I can't think of another single word that means exactly what "problematize" means ("To render problematic; to view, interpret, or analyse (an issue, discipline, etc.) as a problem or system of problems to be solved" - OED). "Question" and "challenge" aren't exactly the same thing.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 5:48 AM (1 hour ago)

"complicate" is a great word and works just fine unless again we're being totally literal here, "problem" + "atize", in which case again WHY

utilize
This is a puff-word. Since it does nothing that good old use doesn't do, its extra letters and syllables don't make a writer seem smarter. Rather, using utilize makes you seem like either a pompous twit or someone so insecure that he'll use pointlessly big words in an attempt to look smart. The same is true for the noun utilization, for vehicle as used for car, for residence as used for home, for indicate as used for say, for presently, at present, at this time, and at the present time as used for now, and so on. What's worth remembering about puff-words is something that good writing teachers spend a lot of time drumming into undergrads: "Formal writing" does not mean gratuitously fancy writing; it means clean, clear, maximally considerate writing.
— DFW

I didn't even know these "Word Notes" existed until now, although I use the dictionary all the time.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 9:27 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

on a lighter note, this made me lol

not the regular-ass word, i mean to make something more like maxim gorky

― death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 4:02 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it was a bittersweet day when the city of nizhnii novgorod was demaximized

― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 4:04 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

xxp 'complicate' really doesn't capture the 'consider as harmful' meaning. trouble is that meaning is confusing and um problematic, much better to unpack the concept behind it. not everything needs to be reducible to a single word.

I see y'all were doing fine without me!

"unpack" is another one!

Would you prefer compartmentalize?

Wait until after I've coffeeized.

Tbf, though, I can't think of another single word that means exactly what "problematize" means ("To render problematic; to view, interpret, or analyse (an issue, discipline, etc.) as a problem or system of problems to be solved" - OED). "Question" and "challenge" aren't exactly the same thing.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 5:48 AM (1 hour ago)

so as a study strategy someone could "problematize" his readings? come on son

I only finished my masters thesis in English last year and I wrote it without using "problematize," so I think I deserve a back rub or at least a cookie.

xxp 'complicate' really doesn't capture the 'consider as harmful' meaning. trouble is that meaning is confusing and um problematic, much better to unpack the concept behind it. not everything needs to be reducible to a single word.

― ledge, Wednesday, June 29, 2011 7:25 AM (13 minutes ago)

i honestly don't see how "complicate" doesn't convey this - again the only place the word 'makes sense' to me is if you're deliberately "creating problems" from the ether, and it's still a stupid word. i mean just sound it out! problematizing, i'm makin' problems,

i feel like a crazy person

I problematized a worksheet for my students, just before math claass started.

Considered harmful is a stock phrase in IT circles when something that was previously thought of as innocuous is suddenly seen to be a problem, I think that's what "problematize" is trying to capture. "This thing that was previously considered harmless is in fact a problem. We need to problematize it." "Complicate" really doesn't fit in there, otoh there is no point in having a special word for this.

Taking the 1910 Saintsbury quote:

For, though Hamlet himself is capable of being problematised to the nth, he is a sufficiently taking figure (especially as introduced by the ghost scenes) to persons who care little indeed for problems.

That looks fine to me - he doesn't mean 'complicate', he means being made a source of problems, questions we can think about and debate but are difficult to decide (is Hamlet really mad? How far does Hamlet trust the ghost? What are Hamlet's feelings for Ophelia? etc etc etc)

1631? And it qualifies as a neologism?

― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 7:06 AM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark

When people complain about "new words" and "new usages," it nearly always turns out to be the case that they're older than previously thought.

Possibly, nobody could spell in those days though

They were just making up as they went along for the most part

yeah tbf the 1631 is a different meaning, and is being used as a comedy philosophy word.

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/problematize.html

what has been lost in this coversation is that the
word "problematize," as used in the literary stuides community, originates
from the term "problematic" -- and problematize does *not* mean "to make a
verb of problem"; which is to say, problematize doesn't mean to make a
problem. it means to make a *problematic* of. problematic (noun) has a
specific meaning, and etymology; it's been in english since 1607, but was
re-coined by louis althusser, the french structural marxist theorist who
attacked humanism in the 1960's. from _critical theory since 1965_ (h.
adams and l. searle, eds, up florida, 1986): "the problematic of the text
is the unconscious infrastructure, the forms that detrmine how the text
will behave and can be allowed to be thought." from althusser: "we must
go farther than the unmentioned presence of the thoughts of a living author
to the presence of his (sic) *potential* thoughts, to his (sic)
*problematic*, that is, to the constitutive unity of the effective thoughts
that make up the domain of the existing *ideological field* with which a
particular author must settle accounts in his own thought." in "english":
to problematize is to analyze the problematic -- the material and
totalizing conditions -- over which a work is produced.

"enumerate your expenses" and "list your expenses" don't have quite the same meaning as "itemize your expenses"

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 1:56 AM Bookmark

Right. "Itemize" makes clear that the expenses should be broken down with specificity ("Lunch, In 'n' Out Burger, July 27, $5.82; Dinner, July 27, In 'n' Out Burger, $7.12") . "List your expenses" is less narrow. It could mean writing "Food expenses = $57.21".

haha it only seems that way because you + me + everybody else has bee using itemize that way for as long as we can remember

Pretty if I was asked to "list expenses" it would produce the same result as being asked to "itemize expenses". But maybe that's just me.

^ 'sure' missing

Sure there's a cultural difference going on here too though

Ha, I've never used "itemize" before. As far as I can tell, "list" seems to convey the OAD meaning:

itemize |ˈʌɪtəmʌɪz|
verb [ trans. ]
present as a list of individual items : I have itemized the morning's tasks.
• break down (a whole) into its constituent parts : [as adj. ] ( itemized) an itemized bill.
• specify (an individual item or items).

(I do think "One could raise questions about..." or "Viewed from another perspective" could usually take care of what "problematize" is usually communicating btw. I have no love for the word. I was just arguing that it's not exactly redundant imo. I admit to not understanding J's quote though.)

extra "usually"

I have itemized the morning's tasks.

SB anyone who says this btw.

I guess I can see how "itemized" is useful as an adjective. "Listed bill" doesn't really work as well.

I will concede that "problematize" might have a place as lingo in particular academic situations, sort of like the verb "to queer." But it has no place roaming free.

This qualification makes me most dislike "utilize."

xp - Yeh, "itemized" is more quite a bit more useful than "to itemize."

It's a morning of concessions.

feminize

http://thatgirlisfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/aerobicise-300x233.jpg

I don't think "problematize" is that widespread in academia in general, but within a particular kind of cultural-studies/postmodern-theory community, it's fairly common. Like, I probably only ran across it because I was interested in that stuff.

'utilize' is useful because sometimes 'use' can carry negative connotations which 'utilize' does not

eradicate 'problematize' though

when are we gonna do this for "-ey" neologisms?

For my part, I've never heard "contenderize." Unless that's just a joke about ILX poster contenderizer.

it was a joke about ILX poster contenderizer

jaymc.xlize

utilize always carries negative connotations

utilise is rubbish

alyzeeize

Right. "Itemize" makes clear that the expenses should be broken down with specificity

so does "enumerate"

But itemize works better as an antonym to "generalize."

"digitize," anyone?

people actually say "problematize"???

shortly afterward do they say "ow ow stop punchizing me"

stop puncherizing Dan!

heard too many people neologize "problematize"

It indignatizes me whenever I hear it used

Working with FreedomWorks, she said, allowed her group to “professionalize ourselves.”

Yet another reason to loathe Tea Partiers

people actually say "problematize"???

yeah, it's a good word but often used incorrectly, at least in casual speech/writing. simple definition j posted a few hours back is very helpful.

"simple":P

contenderizer you seem like a guy who likes to use the word 'problematize'

problematize totally sounds like one of my dad's made up words of which there are several

your dad is a super-utilizer like max

wait, maybe your dad IS max

O_O

paternalized

lol

contenderizer you seem like a guy who likes to use the word 'problematize'

o i am, but i've been going to group for it

wait, i just got a call from maury. max is NOT the father.

http://imnotjaded.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/maury.gif

thank you, dan

anytime!

max looks pretty good there.

WDYLL beating a paternity test

I just sat through a presentation whose title contained the word Moroccanize

also this poll has the best opening post ever, good job eephus

I hope you raised your hand during Q&A and said "the title of this presentation moronized me"

this is apparently common in certain african-american communities... not because of ppl 'trying to look smart', but because it's how the police talk :/

See also: the widespread use of "female".

Holy shit, seriously?

I'm not sure exactly what that's in reference to, but...yes?

sorry - it's in reference to what you said about female and then vehicle etc. trickling down from police-speak. I mean I guess it seems sort of obvious but I'd never heard or thought of that before.

is there a source for this assertion somewhere online

I'd like to read about it if there is tbh.

me too

I don't know! Maybe the poster I quoted does? I used to think the prevalence of "female" was for other, more complicated reasons of gender and perceived respectfulness, but the fact that it's police evidence-report language might be a straighter shot.

rmd ize

i always start off hating these words and then the people who also hate them convince me to like them by the power of their stuffy lameness

when people try to tell me that "utilize" is not a word all i want to do is put on my sunglasses, flip my collar, and get on my hoverboard

We can't all spend our days in a universe of pretty-sounding words -- some of us have jobs!

gonna work all of these words into the next thing i write.

along with "brazenly alive."

brazinized.

Combine them if you've got a strict word count: brazalivize.

isn't that the capital of Republic of Congo?

if it were brazenly alive

I've definitely heard the thing about "female" before, though I can't find any evidence for it right now.

the equivalent isn't true for 'male' tho - a word that's used by police far more often...

wait -- what's the "female" thing?

Pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere.

Al - someone was saying earlier that words like vehicle, residence and female have become commonly used in African American communities because cops use them so much. We were trying to find some evidence or writing on this. Ok I didn't try but I asked if anyone had any.

Al - someone was saying earlier that words like vehicle, residence and female have become commonly used in African American communities because cops use them so much.

woah the internet went all weird for a min. sorry about that.

Al - someone was saying earlier that words like vehicle

enbb i might suggest you stop itemizing your ideas and condensitize them into a single post.

it was an accident! :(

u been accidentalized

so the idea ― for real, apparently ― is that the use of words like "female", "residence" and "vehicle" in "certain african american communities" (ahem) is a product of the use of those words in police reports? and this is familiar argument that seems sensible to people?

really really? would love to see some support for this, cuz...

Moroccanize

I was wondering about this since you can anglicize and whatnot (also thought of the leather) but most of the results that came up had to do with the Western Sahara and the Moroccan govmt's desire to 'moroccanize' it.

so the idea ― for real, apparently ― is that the use of words like "female", "residence" and "vehicle" in "certain african american communities" (ahem) is a product of the use of those words in police reports? and this is familiar argument that seems sensible to people?

really really? would love to see some support for this, cuz...

― And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 6:34 PM Bookmark

Yeah, I also find this claim a little o_0. It sounds like the kind of thing that would originate with some un-fact-checked Bernard Henry-Levy essay.

but words like vehicle, residence and female have become commonly used in African American communities to what end?

i'm americanized ― nine tons of crack a day
i'm americanized ― it's up my butt, the USA [citation needed]

Relevant (about 1:10 in):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDTSEmcP9Yk

(Doesn't mention police reports, though.)

M. White - we have an intern in our office from Morocco and she was giving a presentation on how the energy industries/regulatory environments of Morocco and California differ (including what is INCENTIVIZED in the respective markets) and how energy efficiency needs to be "Morocconized" (which is actually kind of grammatically backwards but hey ESL speaker and all that)

xp

I mean it's definitely a thing but I think maybe it's more SES than race based? The kids I worked with last year all used the term "female" whether they were black, latino or white. I'm just not entirely convinced it (or the vehicle thing) comes from cop talk. I mean maybe it does but I'd like to see some source.

this is not a source but i feel like nabisco mentioned black women referring to themselves as females for this reason as a paranthetical point in some thread. maybe he linked to an article? i can't find the post, though.

what happened to nabisco btw?

He's the music critic for New York magazine.

all this time we've been overlooking a really awesome and terrible one:

http://www.thenation.com/article/161703/how-weaponize-your-personal-crisis

Btw:

Same goes for this depressing habit of working-class people picking up on police terminology (most notably "vehicle" and "female") as a way to sound smart and official; apparently the "oppressor's language" ain't just for poets. I'm still waiting for the moment I hear someone say "You trippin', that's just negligent."

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, May 25, 2005 2:23 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The thing that creeps me out about cop-words is how they creep into common use in communities that have lots of contact with the police. It makes me a little sad how much space terms like "female" and "vehicle" are beginning to take up in standard black English, especially since they're often being used as an aspiration to proper/official speech: it says something bad that the main contact someone's getting with proper/official speech is through law enforcement.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, January 12, 2007 3:36 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol jaymc i was about to post that. you're still the king.

from this thread btw: Jaywalking professor

He's the music critic for New York magazine.

so he's too good for us now?

Heh. The first one is from using 'yous' as the plural of you - C or D?

so he's too good for us now?

No, he's probably just really busy!

OOHHHHHH I get it now. Yeah.

It's like when my students use "individuals" to refer to "people" and "altercation" when they mean "fight" or "argument."

"Weaponize" is a good (awful) one -- there it seems to mean "make a weapon out of" but in other cases it means "to bring weapons into" (as in "prevent the weaponization of outer space")

'we invented this horrible face-eating virus, so now we're looking for ways to weaponize it by incentivizing contractors who prioritize bioresearch'

that would be a perfect opportunity to use "monetize" as well

well sure, it would be foolish to weaponize your face-eating virus without also monetizing it.

although i think anything that you can weaponize probably doesn't need monetization. you monetize things that start out being hard to sell because you're not sure how to get anyone to think they're a thing to pay for.

suggestbanized the lot fo you

I had noticed people saying "female" for woman or lady or whatever, a lot, and I couldn't figure out why it would have caught on. Had personally hypothesized that it was because there was some kind of sexual/sexualized connotation to "woman" and maybe "lady" was considered outdated, so in response, when people w/o access to a really wide language pool were trying to be polite to or about a woman, they'd refer to her as "female". It never really explained a lot of things, though. The whole "communities with exposure to the police" thing goes a lot further.

lol, the cop talk argument sounds perfectly reasonable coming from nabiscOTM. everything does, so no surprise. he's apparently basing it more on personal observation, and perhaps on common wisdom, than any identifiable source. would wonder whether the usage was really aspirational or just sort of ironically (?) cop-like, or both, or something else.

I still don't get why that logic would hold for 'female' but not 'male'

questionize everything

penilize nothing

lol nabisco said exactly the same thing as the person itt

haha, *of course* I would remember a nabisco ilxpost (about race, no less!) in the same part of my brain that stores peer-reviewed scientific findings... what can I say, dude way always OTM!

but yeah I think framing it specifically as a "black ppl+police" thing was a bad call on my part — it is really more an issue of institutionally fixed language ("legalese") becoming vernacular (vernacularized?) through unexpected channels, creating this strange feedback loop of language that might strike some as having "aspirational" or "pretentious" connotations but is in reality just a contingent mixture of heterogeneous bits (like most things lol). I think the race/police angle stuck in my mind just because it's such a sad image and — real talk — we all know about the terrible racial injustices that have been and continue to be played out in america regularly.

I'm to the point where, if you told me that cops made their donuts with the blood of children whose parents were locked up for nonviolent drug offenses, I would probably believe you.

*way=was in that first para

the real answer is Ronisize

^^^^ winner

oh man it shouldn't have taken me two passes to get that

"tokenize"

Like

Weaponize is kind of great. It sounds cool and is really only useful inside of a institutionalized, military-industrialized context anyway, so it's not like it deserves a more classy word.

Monetize doesn't bother me linguistically because it's kind of fun to say, but I absolutely hate the type of thinking that it encourages. For example a colleague and I were talking about something that would have been a promotional opportunity for our company and his question was "but how do you monetize something like that." As though money is the only valuable result that can come from any action. It just seems like really bad business thinking to me, in the way that it ignores other non-financial benefits like promotion, morale building, r&d investment, etc.

So ultimately I have to vote for utilize which is pretty mundane, but is the most linguistically objectionable. And I simply cannot put up with people objectionableizing the word "use".

um

I hope the end result of most, if not all, of your business decisions result in making money, otherwise they don't seem like very good decisions.

Haha, yeah, I was going to say. Everything you do in business should ultimately either increase your revenues or decrease your costs.

I hope the end result of most, if not all, of your business decisions result in making money, otherwise they don't seem like very good decisions.

have you heard of this thing called "marketing"? it's just one example of an activity that doesn't need to be "monetized."

marketing should eventually be increasing your pipeline, leading to more opportunity to close deals, leading to $$$, otherwise you're kind of doing it wrong

(see: 90s tech startups)

the applications of '-ism' as an '-ist'.,

Well yeah but in a bigger company with a number of offerings and a bunch of promotions and initiatives going on at once, it's pretty hard to prove that one marketing project out of many is the reason or even a reason that sales are up.

solutionize

Well yeah but in a bigger company with a number of offerings and a bunch of promotions and initiatives going on at once, it's pretty hard to prove that one marketing project out of many is the reason or even a reason that sales are up.

not denying that at all, but if you are spending more money in marketing than you are bringing in the door, you are going to have a problem

(there is an "eventually" missing at the end of the previous post)

DJP, stop problematizing.

The IRL example I was thinking of was along the lines of telling a music writer that he should write a blog and his response being "but how would I monetize that? I get paid for writing, why should I give it away for free?". And that's a pretty valid reaction, but it ignores the possibility that the blog could have other positive results: getting your name out there to an audience who doesn't read print publications, improving your writing, being able to explore stuff you don't normally have an outlet for, etc.

It's a "business-y sounding" response that's just a buzzword and doesn't really show a deeper understanding of a more long term investment of resources.

marketing should eventually be increasing your pipeline, leading to more opportunity to close deals, leading to $$$, otherwise you're kind of doing it wrong

Marketing should ultimately lead to increased profits, of course. But it's kind of by definition not "monetized" which IMO would mean people paying you to watch your commercials or something. My IRL example was basically the idea of a free promotional effort being met with the point-missing question of "but how do we get people to pay for it."

Like imagine in 1982 if record labels expected MTV to pay them to play videos without recognizing the promotional value.

Well yeah but in a bigger company with a number of offerings and a bunch of promotions and initiatives going on at once, it's pretty hard to prove that one marketing project out of many is the reason or even a reason that sales are up.

If you are a director or higher in your company's marketing operation, you'd better be able to prove it. There are all kinds of methods and tools for measuring return on marketing investment.

Like imagine in 1982 if record labels expected MTV to pay them to play videos without recognizing the promotional value.

They sort of already had some experience with radio . . . ? But the labels also weren't about to sink money into videos if they didn't think they'd translate into record sales.

thanks for missing my point guys. now how do I monetize business card?

it's ok to think 2+ moves ahead in a chess match

marketing = monetizing

Well, maybe I'm wrong but I take monetizing to mean converting directly to cash. So a monetized music video would be one that was sold on a DVD, not one that is given away for free in the hopes that it might lead to increased sales of the audio-only CD. But either way, the way that marketing works is so obvious that it's still dumb to ask "how do we monetize that" when the answer is a simple "maybe people will enjoy this free thing and it will make them buy our paid thing."

yeah, i don't think marketing counts as monetizing. it's like a second-best—maybe you can find a way to get some more money for something ELSE that way, but if you could monetize that fucker directly, that would be way better.

this must be the kind of stuff you take tests on in business school, when you're learning all of the knowledge about business.

monetized music video would be one that was sold on a DVD

do ppl use "monetize" to mean "turn into a product." i think you "monetize" a music video by getting licensing fees for airplay or ad revenue based on pageviews

yes, that sounds right.

i think you "monetize" a music video by getting licensing fees for airplay or ad revenue based on pageviews

yeah, or you don't worry about it because it's meant to be a free promotional tool for something else. But yes, a music video is an imperfect example since the songwriter would in fact get publishing royalties, etc.

I mean, my point is that the concept of monetization is a real issue for certain types of content online. But in my experience the buzzword has seeped into other areas and resulted in some people thinking that every little individual activity that you may do for personal career development or self enrichment must somehow be monetized.

you know who was good at monetizing

king midas

lol

haha. how to monetize daughter

wk OTM. "to monetize" generally means to turn an action (on your part) and/or an interest (on a potential consumer's) into new revenue. e.g., charging money for access to or getting advertisers to sponsor something that's currently free or unsponsored. there are lots of legitimate, sensible business actions that do not directly "monetize" anything in this sense.

ok, I misunderstandized the specificness of the term

OAD fwiw:

convert into or express in the form of currency.

(goes back to at least 1867)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

you know what this poll was missing was "hebraize" and "hellenize"

i think i voted for "monetize" by mistake, i thought we were voting for our favorite

polkadotize

Bette Davisize

cat size

http://www.theknowe.net/dfwfiles/pdfs/word_notes.pdf

this is how vodka and i have spent some recent nights

Happy deanglicizing day everyone!

I wonder what word the person who voted for prioritize would use in its place.

you entitled motherfuckers - there doesn't have to be a verb for everything!! my life would be easier if there were a verb for "to eat a sandwich" but there isn't! that doesn't mean i get to invent one!

"prefer" works sometimes, other times "to set priorities" works just fine

"provide incentives for" oh the horror! three words!

weird, I'm kind of tired, but I'm struggling to see how prioritize could ever be replaced with prefer or provide incentives for in a sentence. to set priorities doesn't quite work either.

also, I think you're perfectly entitled to invent a new verb for sandwich consumption. why not try it? maybe it will catch on.

"make this a priority"

what a bunch of sniffy snoots

maybe this belongs more on 'too much time on ilx' but i have genuinely used (one-time ilx coinage) 'whinetize' in non-ilx irl conversation and then got very very tangled up trying to explain what it means*.

* (turning some lulz into a book and, hopefully, coin)

whinetizing is the new literature

Will start banitizing people soon.

sammichize, kev?

^1p3 take note

you entitled motherfuckers - there doesn't have to be a verb for everything!! my life would be easier if there were a verb for "to eat a sandwich" but there isn't! that doesn't mean i get to invent one!

― bros -izing bros (k3vin k.), Tuesday, July 5, 2011 6:27 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

I have said this several times in the past but this time I mean it for sure, this is the greatest post in the history of ilx

"sandwich me"

that means wildly different things depending on context

http://i40.tinypic.com/11jpvg7.png

really

^still shake my head every day when i walk by this sign

Using caution would be too callous.

"problematize" cf. "saxamaphone"

If "incentivize" drives you up the wall, say hello to "complexify" (Paul Krugman on This Week).

immanentize

"operationize" = do

smize.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/dr/golf/www/release/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_med_image/article_images/masters_87_mize_299x453_0.jpg

No lie, the first time I encountered the word "monetize" was when Stormy Davis began using the moniker "Monetizing Eyeballs". I figured it was some kinda clever portmanteau of "Monet" and "vandalizing".

Monetize definitely seems the most practical and legit of the bunch here.

I erased problematize from my vocabulary before I stayed grad school.out of self consciousness.

Started, that is.

"we need to prioritize our work"
"we need to establish priority for each of our tasks"

"i will prioritize this task"
"i will do this task first"

I like the word "prioritize", it's one of those corporate bureaucratic terms that lets you file away projects so you can work on what's actually important. "I'd love to work on this for you, but I've prioritized X and Y, so I'll add it to my list."

and by "what's important" I mean posting on ILX and reading blogs.

heard someone use "skeletonize" to describe a building at the texas explosion.