documentate!!

[Rex W. Stocklin]

At 1:06 PM -0500 3/28/05, Laurence Horn wrote:

>Isn't "orientate" more or less standard usage in the U.K.?  I seem
>to have heard that claim at some point.
>
>Larry

Yo, my wife is a focus group research analyst and , well, you just
wouldn't believe the strains on the Mother Tongue that are dished in
these confabs. One was "orientated." After the umpteenth time, we
asked some fairly educated friends of ours if they knew of its
existence since it didn't quite ring true. And it wasn't in our
household American Heritage Dictionary. One friend, a Brit, reported
back that, indeed, it is in use across the pond. Since my wife
submits her reports to CEOs and other self-important suits, she
wanted to see documentation and, thus, sought out the OED. And sure
and begorrah, if it wasn't right there.

Occidentally yours,
Lexy Rexy
Fishers, IN