For the love of God, transition is not a verb!
Posted by John Keller
I apologize in advance for the upcoming rant, but I really have to vent about seeing the word "transition" used as a verb ... or more to the point, to make clear that transition is not a verb; it's a noun -- always has been, always will be.
It's a pity this is one of the things that drives me barking mad, that is, since I work around the defense industry and the Pentagon, where the community just LOVES to fold, spindle, and mutilate the perfectly useful word transition until this noun finally gives up and impersonates a verb.
I just got an e-mail with a subject line that illustrates this travesty: Have You Transitioned to ISO 9001:2008 Yet?
I remember back in the early '80s when Navy aviation was "transitioning" from the A-7 to the F-18 light attack bomber. It's as though no one has heard of the word "switch."
Then again, perhaps a simple, useful word like "switch" is too lowly and modest to describe the switch ... ooops, sorry, the transition ... to something as monumental as a new fighter-bomber, or a new ISO standard.
And so it goes.
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John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
