Adecvax.196
net.followup
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!minow
Mon Apr  5 18:56:34 1982
On Functionality
Last week I inquired about attitudes towards, and replacements for
the ever so popular word "functionality."  Several people suggested
"capability."  Many were quite vehement in their denouncement of
"this hackneyed non-word."  Other responses include:
	-- replacing it by such words as:
		Feature - when describing a thing that something has
		Function - when describing a thing that something does
		Capability - when describing a thing that something can do
			-- John Winterton at decvax!watmath!jcwinterton

	-- "... there is a citation [in the OED] from the 1870's....
		I've never found a good synonym, unfortunately; however,
		you can always re-case your sentence to avoid the word.
			-- Jerry Leichter at yale-comix

	-- Since 'functionality' is a noun (function) made into an
		adjective (functional) made into a noun (functionality),
		in most cases it would suffice to leave it as the original
		noun (function).
				-- Don't recall who sent this; sorry.

	-- How about the word "functions" -
		"the functionality of this new product..."
	    cf.
		"the functions provided by this new..."

		but it will never word: buzzword-itis strikes those who
		know least what they talk about, and who, unfortunately,
		have the power to propagate the error.
			-- Keith Ericson at tektronix.

	-- "usefulness" can sometimes replace functionality.

		You can also say:
			TECO does the same thing
		or	TECO has the same function
		or	TECO serves the same function
		instead of TECO provides the same functionality.
			-- Andy Tannenbaum, Bell Labs, Whippany NY

Thanks also to Bruce Wright at Duke.  Sorry about losing return addresses:
I don't use unix mail and vi often enough to understand all the cute things
you can do with them, and certainly don't understand all the cute things
they can do to you.

Martin Minow
decvax!minow



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