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John D. Archer, MD

JAMA. 1975;231(13):1370.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Technical terminology is often indispensable for efficient communication between members of a specific profession. Unnecessary jargon, however, is less easy to defend and has no place in formal writing when standard language will serve as well or better. Such jargon becomes particularly offensive when it goes so far as to violate grammatical propriety.

In plain and ordinary usage, the English verb "present" is transitive: it requires an object. A speaker may present a report to an audience. An author may present a manuscript to an editor.

I must acknowledge that at least one popular dictionary presents a definition for the intransitive use of the verb: "to come forward or into view."¹ That dictionary, however, does little to differentiate correct usage from incorrect. On the other hand, the excellent American Heritage Dictionary,² which does make such distinctions, simply disdains to recognize any use of "present" as a verb without . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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