Evening star., 1932-01-26

/ The consideration in this column re-
Gently of the use of the word contact"
as verb has given rise to considerable
/ discussion. Every one seems ID be in
! tereSted in woros, almost as much as in
! things to eat. 1t is human nature, one
your discussion of contact as verb
interested me very much wrote one
correspondent. We have had a series
of arguments IN our office on the sub
ject lately Although I do not like the
usage, l have defended it on the ground
that the language is growing all the
time and that we need many words
the more the merrier
Several weeks ago, according to
news story in the New York Herald
/ Tribune. Mr.. F. W. Lenau, an official of
the Western Unicn Telegraph Co., at
tended a luncheon, at which Dr. Vize-
{ telly was also present. Lienau told Of
an order he had issued to officers under
his direction forbidding the use of
contact as a verb, and he humorouSly
expressed the hope that Vizetelly would
appreciate his effort to keep the Eng
/ liSh language pure. DR. ViZeteLy sur
prised him by stoutly defending the
usage as we'll established and as full
filling a present-day need in the COM
mercial world.
Il am sending you copy of January
! Correct English. which prints an extract
I from the Western Union order on the
subject, with a brief editorial COM
ment. +. p. A. in the Herald Tribune
recently criticized our Undersecretary
of Treasury Ogden Mills, for using
loan as verb and verbal instead of
| 'craT in a prepared speech delivered In
New York. Both of these uSages, I be-
lieve, are frowned on in most news
paper and magazine otfiCeS, yet We
found an abundance of high authority
for the usages, and the editor has ad-
mitted in a letter that they are un-
doubtedly tablished beyond any crit
icism. With all good wishes,
Fl. de S. R."
Under the heading we Contacted
Mr.. Smith" the magazine article re-
ferred to follows:
We ere indebted to Mr. F. w Lienau
Western Union tariff expert, for calling
to our attention in letter OF protest
addressed to the eight general man.
ayers of Western Union the growing use
OF contact as verb. Mr.. Lienau We
hen emily writes:
IS S-mewhere there cumbers this fair
earth with his loathSome presence a
man who for the common good should
have been destroyed in early childhood.
He is the originator of the hideous Vul-
garism of using contact as verb
We contacted Mr. Smith"
Some new words and new twists OF
old ones that have found their way into
common use can be justified on the
ground that they are cleverer or pithier
or more to the point than any other
expressions of the sane thought but so
long as we can meet, get in touch with.
make the acquaintance Of, be introduced
to, call on, interview or talk to people,
there can be no such apology for con
tact
While we are heartily in sympathy
with Mr.. Lienau'S effort to discourage
the use of contact in the sense of to
get in touch with person, we must
point out that contact is recorded as
tranSitive verb in WebSter's the New
Century and the fTeW English (Oxford)
dictionaries. It's meaning is to bring
into contact, to enter into contact, to
touch 1t is, however, clearly restricted
to technical and scientific usage, as in
the sentence The spark and the gun
powder contacted, and, acting together,
produce the explosion The use of the
verb contact between persons is to be
condemned, as it is not in accord with
the usage of the best speakers. 1t con-
notes bodily contact, and suggests the
type of high-pressure salesman who
grabs his prospect by the coat lapels."