The Words to be Used

that companies distribute? Focus is a nice-sounding w ord w ith the air

o f some intellectual meat about it, o f some clarity and resonance. But
w hat the w riter means is that travel is often a good way o f rewarding
staff.
impact
W hen a w ord has some dramatic thrust it is especially destructive to use
it so as to deprive it of colour or force. Here the w ord im pact is used in
a piece o f advice about prettifying the home:
To add impact, choose flowers that make a statement.
Im pact is a powerful w ord, used o f fatal crashes at high speed on the
motorway, or o f dramatic effects produced by some spectacle o f rare
impressiveness. The w riter o f the above, however, reduces the w ord to
the level o f any old piece o f w orn-out currency; then, to make things
worse, trundles out the m ost hackneyed o f current non-sayings, flowers
that make a statem ent.
instigate
My dictionary definition o f this verb is to bring about, as by incitem ent
and to urge on to some violent or unadvisable action. The notion of
stirring things up into a state o f excitement attaches to the verb, w hich
has been m uch used o f fermenting rebellion. The w ord is now used
increasingly as though it meant no m ore than initiate or start.
His grandfather instigated the first public transport system in the city.
Here initiated or started w ould be better.
He joined the society soon after going up to Cambridge, instigated by a
former school friend.
Here encouraged w ould be the right word.
materialize
Something w hich materializes takes on material form. Therefore the
verb is used o f things w hich become fact, w hich actually take place. Thus
the w ord has been increasingly used o f plans w hich come off, as we
say. The usage is not favoured by the pedants. The m odern tendency to
use the verb as an alternative to the verbs to happen or to occur is
regarded as lax and imprecise. As one looks at instances o f its use