Why do so many people in the media, including our president, choose to use the word...?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Monica V
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Monica V

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..."lessen" while they abandon the word "decrease."

"Lessen" as a verb is a non-word.

Examples:
"...our plan is to lessen our nation's dependency on foreign oil..."
"...we intend to lessen the number of people dependent upon welfare..."
"...this treaty will lessen the number of nuclear weapons in our arsenal..."

Wouldn't "decrease" be better word usage in such cases? I'm hearing this used all the time and it's driving me nuts. What is the reason for such consistently poor word choices?

Any ideas?
 
I agree with you. Using the word "decrease" is better than the word "lessen", and it is more descriptive and graphic. However, the word "lessen" is the flavor of the month which could become the flavor of the year word and could be there for a number of years, like the phrases "having said that", "at the end of the day," "agreeing to disagree", or the words "automatically," "simply" and the again phrases, "you know," "in conclusion," etc. etc. etc.
It is really amazing to hear those words," over and over again."
As O'Reilly would say, "those people are pinheads!" Good luck to you.
 
that's quite an interesting thought! i've never noticed it before!

i suppose it's just a gradual thing, people copy other people's use of language, and their phrases, and graduallythey just... keep doing it!

like, i use the word "like" all the time, it annoys me but i can't stop! it's habit, and it's become a huge thing among young people!

but you know what? i'm going to use the word decrease instead of lessen next time it's appropriate!

hurray for expanding your vocabulary!!
 
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