I HATE the word ‘problematize’ – It isn’t in the OED or any of the mainstream dictionaries, yet it gets tossed around by academics as thought it were ‘cat’.  It’s not a real word.  It implies the outcome before the discussion starts.

It’s jargon, meant to exclude people rather than clearly communicate.  At best it is some form of academic shorthand, but it makes even otherwise intelligent people feel unnecessarily disconnected from the discussion. 

What’s wrong with “call into question”?  “propose as a problem”?  “complicate”? “make problematic”?  heck, even “discuss”.  Our language is quite rich enough; we don’t need to go around making up new words to express ideas for which there are already perfectly acceptable words and phrases.

Powered by ScribeFire.