This is the first part of an ongoing look at how corporate culture is eroding our language. Corporate munging of our language offends me, mostly because it’s so un-artistic, and evasively dishonest.

Today’s word: Leverage. Here is its common, annoying usage:

Leveraging the latest in browser and web technologies …

Beef #1 - Cover your ass

This use of leverage applies the passive voice — a voice that removes the attribution, ripping the people or purpose out of the phrase. Writers usually do this to cover their ass. If you don’t imply that someone has done something (or say what was done) then you can’t get fired for it.

By blurring blame and responsibility we can hide or exaggerate meaning. And the possibility of dishonesty is the likelyhood of it, so the construct is often misused. It lets us get away with stretching the truth.

Beef #2 - Meaning(less)

Leverage is a weak, lofty replacement for “uses” ( or “uses to advantage”). The above phrase could be reworded:

Using the latest in browser and web technologies …

But even when we remove leverage from the mix, the sentance is weak. It’s horribly vague. Which technologies does it use? Why do we even care? And while the vagueness allows room for dishonesty, the greater crime is its bland weakness.

The gray vague of unsympathizing sea. — Lowell

Inspire me

This use of Leverage is uninteresting, pompous, and muddling. We have such a rich language, why would anyone want to choose the least useful way of using it? And people writing about products should be especially wary of weak language: if they don’t inspire or interest us, they will be out of work.