I have several word pet peeves. One is “snuck”, which I have written about previously. Another is 9 a.m. in the morning. (Think about it! As opposed to 9 a.m. in the evening?) My word of the month is “Utilize”. Utilize is one of those fluffed up, pretentious, supposedly intellectual “dollar” words that people use when they want to sound smart. Many times we see it in PR copy: If you utilize this product, you will be better/stronger/smarter/richer etc. But I often see it in plain old prose: He utilized the rake to clean up the yard . Aw, come on. There is a perfectly acceptable, three-letter word you can “use” instead. That’s it—USE. He used the rake to clean the yard . If you use this product you will___. Simple. Utilitarian. Easy. And do NOT use the even fluffier, more pretentious verb form: “utilization.” Ugh. Here are the definitions of the two words: Use : take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of accomplishing or achieving something; employ— Oxford English Dictionary ...