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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm still looking for those editors with real
authority, but in the meantime I looked other places. As David Barnhart
shows in the e-mail (way) below, "leverage" as a verb seems to be a new word
that has crept into common usage. I'm a management consultant, and in my
field the term has come into use as a synonym for "use," "take advantage of,"
"exploit," "apply," or even "enhance." For example, "we will help you find
ways to better leverage your customer intelligence." It's clearly become
part of the consulting "dialect" (aka "consultingese"), but that might actually
be a bad thing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=947283821-05092001><STRONG>Dictionaries</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=947283821-05092001>The following standard dictionaries do not allow that
leverage can be a verb: <A
href="http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/">Macquarie Dictionary</A>, <A
href="http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=0&Keyword=leverage&Language=ENG&NLD=1&FRA=1&DEU=1&ITA=1&ESP=1&v=86098358">Random
House Webster</A>, and <A
href="http://www.xrefer.com/">XRefer</A></SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's Interesting that
several online dictionaries allow "leverage" as a verb for the narrow meaning of
borrowing money to control a corporation, thereby creating leverage from a small
amount of equity. These dictionaries include </FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=leverage*1+0"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>The Cambridge Dictionary of American English</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2>, (but not the Cambridge International
Dictionary), </FONT><A href="http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary,</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2> and The New Shorter English Dictionary, which suggests
"lever" as a synonym. David Barnhart writes that "leverage" as a verb has
come into informal usage and cites The Barnhart Dictionary of New English,
Macquarie Dictionary of New English, Oxford Dictionary of New Words, and
Bloomsbury, Neologisms of New Words Since 1960.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>The only dictionary
that allows "leverage" as a verb as to "improve" or "enhance" is the </FONT><A
href="http://www.bartleby.com/61/"><FONT face=Arial size=2>American Heritage
Dictionary</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2> (the source for
dictionary.com). </FONT></SPAN></P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><STRONG>Style
guides</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001></SPAN><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>The New York Times
Style Guide makes no particular mention of it, and neither do the half dozen
other style guides I found at Barnes & Noble. I have the Economist
Style Guide buries somewhere in my basement but couldn't find it. One
usage guide did, however bring it up:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001></SPAN><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>Dictionary of Modern
American Usage, Bryan Garner:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>[cites it as a
strictly financial term, but then writes] The term has a definitive
meaning, but nevertheless may be characterized as a term used primarily by
financial jargonmongers. (See "jargon")</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>From the </FONT><A
href="http://www.oecd.org/dac/htm/stylegde.htm"><FONT face=Arial size=2>OECD
Style Guide</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001></SPAN><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>
<TABLE border=0 width="95%">
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Trendy expressions soon become tired
expressions. To keep your writing fresh, steer clear of buzzwords such
as leverage (as a verb), paradigm and sea change, as well as clichés
such as state-of-the-art and cross-cutting. Your text may seem more
topical if you sprinkle in a globalisation here, a sustainability there,
but are these voguish (albeit vital) concepts really pertinent to your
subject?</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>From the
</FONT><A href="http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/editing.html"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Free Online Dictionary of Computing's style
guide</FONT></A></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>Never use
the word "leverage" as a verb</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>From </FONT><A
href="http://www.retrograde.net/gramsquad/lexicranky.html"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Professor Sputnik's Lexicranky page</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2> ("thirty three terms which ought to be dragged out and
slowly shot until they've had quite enough"). One of them
is:</FONT></SPAN></DIV><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Leverage (verb) </FONT>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>"I am leveraging my can opener to access the
baked beans." Thanks to all the "leveraged buyout" hoopla in the 80's,
here's an easy way to sound like a high-powered Wall Street
corpo</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>[although he
points out with relief that "to leverage" has not - yet - been included
in Webster's Third New International
Dictionary]</SPAN></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>From </FONT><A
href="http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0%2C1284%2C39450-2%2C00.html"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Wired Style </FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>(the
promotional blurb, no less)</FONT></SPAN></P><SPAN
class=947283821-05092001>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>These are fingernails-on-the-blackboard
words, real shiver-up-the-spine stuff: "functionality,"
"implementation," "bleeding edge," "leverage," "next-generation,"
"monetize," "mission critical." You can almost see the language curling
into a fetal position to await the deathblow. "Monetize," for crying out
loud. </FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><A
href="http://www.lssu.edu/banished/2001.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lake
Superior State University Banished Words List</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>, under Business Babble:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=947283821-05092001>LEVERAGE An
over-used and often mis-used term in the business world. "I think it is
a false verbification of the noun 'leverage,' says Phil Rustage, London,
UK.<BR><BR>"Leverage this...leverage that...It makes me want to puke. I
don't really know the new definition of this word, but I've caught on
(empirically) by hearing it a dozen million times from those
suit-wearing marketing bozos." Todd Ryan, Knoxville, Tennessee. Todd
performed an Internet search for 'leverage' and found more than 50,000
entries. He quit (and so did we) reading after the fifth entry, calling
the lot of it 'gobbledygook.' We agree</SPAN></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><SPAN class=947283821-05092001><FONT face=Arial size=2>From World's
Worst Words - "</FONT><A
href="http://www.princeton.edu/~spectatr/general/www.html"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>The Shit List</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>" -
"[thirty] overused and misused words favored by the illiterate,"
"leverage" is number 20. This list is published by the </FONT><A
href="http://www.princeton.edu/~spectatr/"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Princeton Spectator</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>, a college
newspaper.</FONT></SPAN></P></SPAN></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></SPAN></SPAN><BR></DIV></DIV><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> leverage, v.<BR>> <BR>> Third Barnhart Dictionary
of New English (e.q.=1957)<BR>> Macquarie Dictionary of New English<BR>>
Oxford Dictionary of New Words<BR>> Bloomsbury, Neologisms New Words since
1960<BR>> <BR>> I would guess that by now it's at least informal.<BR>>
<BR>> Regards,<BR>> David K. Barnhart, Editor<BR>> The Barnhart
Dictionary Companion [quarterly]<BR>> </FONT><A
href="mailto:barnhart@highlands.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>barnhart@highlands.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>>
</FONT><A href="http://www.highlands.com/Lexik"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>www.highlands.com/Lexik</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>>
<BR>> "Necessity obliges us to neologize."<BR>> Thomas Jefferson-August
16, 1813</FONT></BODY></HTML>