It just bothers me when people think faux language is real language.

After this hellish work deadline is done (supposed to be today, has been pushed to Thursday), I'm instituting a buzzword swear jar policy for the next release. Any time a PM sends me documentation info that contains marketing buzzwords OR "leverages", they owe me a dollar.

Nobody's going to stand up for descriptivism here? (I can't, I'm leaving work in 5 minutes, but someone should.)

I don't think anyone agrees with me, but the use of "reach[ed/ing] out to" in place of "contact[ed/ing]" strikes me as a pretentious way of phrasing something that already had a word (i.e., "contact"). It just gets used so much by PR/media-facing people ("We reached out to the company, but there was no reply.") and really irritates me. "Contact" is a perfectly good word AND is more succinct!

So when people use "reach out" in personal conversation, it makes me twitch because of my own bias. (I emailed a friend last year who I had lost touch with, and when she replied, she said "Thanks for reaching out." And I just thought, wow, that comes off as so jargon-y and impersonal. But the thing is, I'm sure she didn't mean it as jargon-y and impersonal; she's just very uber-corporate and seems to have taken on some of the current communication patterns.)

And, like I said, I don't actually know anyone else who gets annoyed by "reach out" in place of "contact," so in this, I am well aware that I am a crackpot with very particular preferences.

And, like I said, I don't actually know anyone else who gets annoyed by "reach out" in place of "contact," so in this, I am well aware that I am a crackpot with very particular preferences.

sidles over to Teppy

I'm with you on this. Probably because the only people I've dealt with who have used "reach out" instead of "contact" are also the type who spout whatever management-flavor-of-the-month jargon is trendy. Like "Thanks for leaning in", which is a phrase that will send me into eye-rolling rage.

Really? I would think "thanks for reaching out" predates the use in the business context.

But I'm a fan of reach out. Contacted to me implies there has been some sort of interaction, while reached out could mean sent an email or vm but have not necessarily interacted yet.

Wait! I'm right about reach out. Proof [link]

Thanks for leaning in

The what now?

Really? I would think "thanks for reaching out" predates the use in the business context.

Then it's been horribly abused in the corporate world, especially in tech.

I'm all for making up words! I'm all for casual language! But because I'm a tech writer/editor, people giving me information that is full of made-up marketing speak and buzzword fluff is a huge, HUGE hot button for me. During the second week of this job, I informed my manager that there was no way I was using the term "searchandizing" in the technical doc set. His reply was something like "OH THANK G-D, you have a spine".

I actually meant to say I was pretty descriptivist earlier.

But not so descriptivist to be able to use prescriptivist to mean descriptivist and expect people to understand me. Just mistyped what my brain thought.

"Reach out, reach out and touch someone..." I don't remember what that's from. Phone company ad?

Searchandizing? I cannot decipher that.

Ha! The Four Tops use of "reach out" is exactly my problem with it being used by every corporate PR person: it strikes me as implying a level of emotion and even intimacy (or potential thereof) that "contact" doesn't. (Otherwise the song would be "Contact me; I'll be there.") (And now I'm thinking about Blondie's "Call Me.")