A&O - orientated or oriented?

BluegrassRN · Dec 27, 2009

i know the dictionary says either is okay, but i think that "orientated" sounds completely stupid and uneducated, like someone is making up a word in order to sound smart. i want to cringe any time i hear someone say it. my husband teaches languages and has an english degree, and he says orientated may be technically correct, but he would count it as incorrect in an essay.

use what you want, or what it appears everyone around you uses. either is okay, apparently, but how often do you hear the physicians use the word "orientated"? how often do you hear "orientated" used vs "oriented" in edited or educated language, either written or spoken?

edited to add:

this is what wikipedia's dictionary has to say about orientate:

etymology

orient +‎ -ate

[edit] verb

infinitive

to orientate

third person singular

simple past

past participle

present participle

to orientate (third-person singular simple present orientates, present participle orientating, simple past and past participle orientated)

(british) (transitive) to determine one's position relative to the surroundings; to orient
- he…stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge.

—john le carré

he came out of the station and took some time to orientate himself.

[*](british) (intransitive) to turn to face the east

[edit] usage notes

the term is in wide colloquial use in the uk, although the oxford english dictionary does not define it, simply stating that it is another form of orient.[1] it is widely considered an error in american english.[2] prescriptivists criticize it as a backformation from orientation (compare interpretate from interpretation);[3][4] it is attested since the mid-19th century.

[edit] synonyms

to orient

jmtndl · Dec 27, 2009

There is no such word as "orientated". There never has been. It has always sounded so odd to me to hear nurses say a patient is "orientated" or a nurse is being "Orientated". There is "orientation", which is a state of being "oriented",or a program designed to familiarize people to an organization's way of doing things. The pronounciation is "orey-in-ted". I have never figured out why everyone says "orientated".

showbizrn · Dec 27, 2009

:up: according to webster,

the verbs orient and orientate are synonymous.

mc3, ASN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

Yup, drives me nuts, too. So does "disrespected" " as in "I was disrespected" versus "disrespectful" as in "she is disrespectful to her elders". Don't know why, it just bugs me...

mc3:D

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

Orientate was not an actual word until it became so widely (mis)used that it was adopted by the various powers-that-be.

To me, it's in the same category of butchering the English language as irregardless.

FLMom3, RN · Dec 27, 2009

I agree, "orientated" sounds stupid, please don't use it! :rolleyes:

Midwest4me · Dec 27, 2009

i agree, "orientated" sounds stupid, please don't use it!

i, too, agree that it is stupid. thankfully, i hear it less now than in the past.

Otessa, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

oriented

it used to bother me when people said "orientated"

Otessa, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

Also, orientate's description is "to orientate" as in orientating a new nurse NOT for alert and oriented patient.....

Otessa, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

There is no such word as "orientated". There never has been. It has always sounded so odd to me to hear nurses say a patient is "orientated" or a nurse is being "Orientated". There is "orientation", which is a state of being "oriented",or a program designed to familiarize people to an organization's way of doing things. The pronounciation is "orey-in-ted". I have never figured out why everyone says "orientated".

orientate

orientated

indeed ARE words

but are commonly used incorrectly

check out dictionary.com

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 27, 2009

"Also, orientate's description is "to orientate" as in orientating a new nurse NOT for alert and oriented patient..... "

Please, no. Just use the word "orient." It is the technically correct verb.