On "leveraging"
If you work in a corporate environment, you've probably heard the term "leverage". "We can leverage our synergies" is a personal favourite. These kinds of buzz words often get some bad press, and for good reason--they are often deemed to really mean nothing in particular but make the person talking seem smart (presumably). In this case, though, I do understand what the term means: to take advantage of some existing relationship or resource in some new way. What bothered me is that there must have been another way of saying this before the word leverage came along--indeed, as a verb, it is only 50 years old.
That's when a trip to Merriam-Webster paid off: the first definition doesn't really apply, but definition #2 is "to use for gain : exploit". Aha! No one likes the word "exploit", especially in a corporate world where highers-up have to fend off accusations that their company has no concern for society, the environment, or whatever. The fact is that the primary definition of "exploit", "to make productive use of", is not enough to overcome the bad connotations of the second definition, "to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage". So to skirt the whole issue, a new word was invented!
Of course, "leverage" now has all the connotations that any corporate-speak has... but I guess that's acceptable to corporate management, at least until a new word is invented.
That's when a trip to Merriam-Webster paid off: the first definition doesn't really apply, but definition #2 is "to use for gain : exploit". Aha! No one likes the word "exploit", especially in a corporate world where highers-up have to fend off accusations that their company has no concern for society, the environment, or whatever. The fact is that the primary definition of "exploit", "to make productive use of", is not enough to overcome the bad connotations of the second definition, "to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage". So to skirt the whole issue, a new word was invented!
Of course, "leverage" now has all the connotations that any corporate-speak has... but I guess that's acceptable to corporate management, at least until a new word is invented.