Orientate [was "the religious rite"]

[Lynne Murphy]

I've discussed 'orientate' on Separated by a Common Language:

<http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2006/09/inducting-orientating-and-pressurising.html>

It's not the "correct" form in BrE, but 'orient' as a verb is hardly ever
heard.

Lynne

--On Wednesday, October 25, 2006 11:14 pm +0100 neil <neil at TYPOG.CO.UK>
wrote:

> I always thought that to orient oneself, to be oriented, or to have an
> orientation were UK usages.
>
> Hence to orientate oneself, or to be orientated seemed an unnecessary
> elaboration of the original short-form -- the qualification orientated
> seeming a back-formation from the noun orientation.
>
> However I discovered to my chagrin that those were not  US imports but a
> long-established UK usages.
>
>
>> From: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:49:40 -0700
>> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Subject: Re: "the religious rite"
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: "the religious rite"
>>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----> -
>>
>> On Oct 25, 2006, at 2:26 PM, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>>
>>> My understanding is that "orientate" is the preferred form in Britain?
>>
>> MWDEU says, cautiously, that it's "much more frequently used in
>> British English than it is in American".  with cites from reputable
>> folks, like Auden, Huxley, Leavis, Robins, and Quirk.  by now it
>> might actually be the preferred form.
>>
>>> And
>>> I've heard "mentee" too.
>>
>> it's unfortunately useful.
>>
>>> At 05:04 PM 10/25/2006, you wrote:
>>>> Regarding another construction in the quoted sentence: "Orientate"
>>>> is very
>>>> common--more so than "conversate," I'd say...
>>
>> oh, much more.
>>
>> i didn't comment on it in my original quotation because i hear it (or
>> read it) so often.
>>
>> arnold
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>



Dr M Lynne Murphy
Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
Linguistics and English Language
Arts B135
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QN

phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org