Last year in my college English 1201 class, my professor always crossed out the word “societal” on a paper I did. He would write above it “…you should use 'social' instead…” Does that have something to do with context. Is there a situation where one of the words is wrong and one is appropriate? and why if they are synonyms and the same part of speech would there be a seperate rule?
Social vs Societal
November 19th, 2006 by Mike W.
24 Responses to “Social vs Societal”
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Social & Societal are not synonyms
Oops… premature submission.
Anyway, Social & Societal are not synonyms in all cases so context could have everything to do with it. Do you have examples?
societal isn't a word. i don't remember it being used ten years ago. i certainly don't remember it being used this much even five years.
Yes, it is a word, Craig. It's in all of my dictionaries. I just checked a 40 year old dictionary and it has "societal" in it. it's defined as "of or pertaining to society".
Societal's definition is more restrictive, but is roughly included within the wider definition of "social".
The word "social" is a much broader word with more definitions, only one of which is similar (but not identical):
"of or having to do with human beings living together as a group in a situation in which their dealings with one another affect their common welfare."
That could be interpreted to mean a society, but could also mean a family, or any group with a common interest.
"Social" can also just mean friendly and outgoing. "Societal" has no such meaning.
I don't know exactly how you used the word, but if you used "societal" to mean "pertaining to society" then you were absolutely correct. Now, you probably could have used "social", and meant exactly the same thing, but that doesn't mean that societal was wrong.
In some cases, using the word social is ambiguous, precisely because it has so many different meanings. In that case, using societal would probably be preferred for clarity.
I suspect that your professor is trying to prove a different point. He may think you are using buzz words, purposely using flowery prose when simpler words would suffice.
Using societal when just social would do could be considered an example of this. Many people have a pet peeve about using buzz words. His lesson might be that one should express oneself as simply and clearly as possible. On the other hand, if societal was used correctly, then your prof may just have a bug up his ass. Still, in general, don't use a big word when a small one will do.
For more on this check out:
http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/buzzwords_say_all_the_wrong_things.php
I wonder whether both words have more subtle meanings? "Social" pertains to human relationships and "societal" means having to do with society as a big concept?
Seems as if the two words are both usable.Your professor may have some visceral reaction to elevated language.
I'd say Porsche has elaborated the distinctions that seem right to me. Societal is first listed in the OED for 1898 in fact. And you have the option of the even older world "societary" with a more or less synonymous meaning. Try that one out on your professor perhaps?!
I agree with most of what has been said. Societal is far more seldom used than social and so it may sound like a buzz word. On the other hand, I do think that both have appropriate uses in different situations, especially if you are writing within the social sciences where semantic distinctions between words like social and societal may be subtle but important. I personally studied anthropology in college, so one of the things that I tried to learn to do was to be able to recognize the difference between words like social and societal (or simple and simplistic, or other similar pairs) and to me, Rebecca looks right on. Social refers to something that has to do with society, somthing societal has to do with the system of society itself. I don't know if that is a great way to articulate it. Maybe Rebecca's words were better. But that's my understanding.
"societal" is used by people who are afraid of the word "social" because it makes them think of socialism.
The odds are, your professor is a purist and sees the word "societal" as jargon or a corruption of the word "social." Many feel the same way about nominalizations (ironically like "nominalization") or buzz-words like "truthiness." I think the lesson your professor is trying to teach is to use simple language and not get lost in what could potentially become a cloud of PC-isms.
Hello,
I have been wondering about this too. I swear I haven't heard the word "societal" for most of my life but nowadays I hear it ALL THE TIME and I wonder if it is just people trying aspiring to sophistication . . .
Does anyone know a clever and easy way to check word usage over time? Some online corpus or a tool in one of the news sites? It would be neat to see a trend line . . .
historians use social; anthropology and sociology people use societal
historians use social; anthropology and sociology people use societal
historians use social; anthropology and sociology people use societal
I am from the UK and the word societal is not used here. I have looked it up and societal only came into existence around 1900. I think this is another case of Americans with a poor grasp of the English language making up redundant words. I have read articles by American professors who use the word! It is poor English, but has come into use through repetition. Americans seem to reject English words which have too many uses. Maybe it seems strange to Americans that a word could relate both to ones immediate social activities as well as the interaction of human beings in wider society … but social covers both of these which means 'societal' is a redundant word. By the way the same applies to the word 'obliged' which Americans always seem to replace with 'obligated' – another redundant word made up by Americans. Americans might say “I have to go to work, I am ‘obligated’ to go there”. All other English speakers (unless taught by an American) would say “I have to go to work, I am obliged to go there”. Maybe obliged sounds too Southern or too Negro (‘much obliged sir’) for professors to use? Maybe social doesn’t sound academic enough?
Baldrige 2009 1.2 Governance and Societal Responsibilities:
Baldrige 2007 1.2 Governance and Social Responsibilities:
societal was not found in the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
social was found in the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at the entries listed below.
social adjective GOING OUT
social adjective SOCIETY
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/landing/?ad=cdo&word=social&utm_source=cdo&utm_medium=default&utm_campaign=VT =>14 words
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/landing/?ad=cdo&word=societal&utm_source=cdo&utm_medium=default&utm_campaign=VT =>2 words
Jon:
Thank you so much for your elucidation on this distinction. Personally, I cringe when I hear the word societal, and I’m an American! I have never known of an instance where the use of societal was superior to, or more specific than, the word social.
What an interesting discussion!
I am a history professor at a service academy. I dislike “societal” because it is one of several 10-cent words that people use in failed attempts to make themselves sound more intelligent. “Utilize” (instead of “use”) and “emplace” (instead of “place”) are other examples. Cadets will ask to “utilize the latrine” instead of just using it. “Emplace” came into the language with Iraqis “emplacing” IEDs on the sides of roads, but now cadets will “emplace” a book into a bookbag. It’s drives me crazy.
What I try to pound into my students’ heads is that clear, clean, austere English works best. Why use a fancy word when a regular one works just fine?
It also drives me crazy that I can’t fix the typo (“It’s drives me crazy” should be “It drives me crazy”) in the message I just posted.
Merriam-Webster lists ‘emplace’ as a back-formation of ‘emplacement’, and dates it to 1865 – perhaps a Civil War coinage. ‘Emplacement’ has a military connotation: a prepared position for weapons or military equipment; M-W dates it to 1802. The use of ‘emplacement’ in reference to IEDs is A-OK, but unless the books are incendiary its use in a book-bag context is inappropriate.
‘Utilize’ means “to make use of : turn to practical use or account” (Merriam-Webster). It is inappropriate to ask to ‘utilize the latrine’ unless the intent is to find a new use for it. (Don’t ask, don’t tell.)
‘Societal’ is a perfectly good word, but it is best confined to the social sciences, as a rule. I’m having a hard time imagining how a cadet would utilize it.
I agree with Rob that the use of ‘10-cent words’ to impress is ill-advised. The military has always had its own strain of sesquipedalian lingo. But in the trenches, you can be sure that they revert to “clear, clean, austere English.” (Well, maybe not ‘clean’.)
Jon, Michael, how about this?
“The fraternity’s social activities were very popular with the rest of the college community.”
Translation: they had orgiastic keg parties that were very well attended and loved by all.
Compare to:
“The fraternity’s societal activities were very popular with the rest of the college community.”
Translation: they raised money to fight cancer, making everyone on campus proud.
If societal is more specific than social then it’s not redundant. Frankly, even if they meant exactly the same thing (which they don’t), that would still ok. Where did you get the crazy idea that there can only be one word for something? English is filled with tens of thousands of “redundant” words. They may have different origins, histories, imported into the language at different times. They may differ by a minor shade of meaning. The choice may differ according to context or perhaps be appropriate only in certain registers. This is not worthy of criticism. It’s what gives our language richness of expression, poetry. Are you suggesting that there should be no synonyms at all? If I were to use all my fingers and toes, I still couldn’t count all the words I know with exactly the same definition that refer to my naughty bits.
Now, I certainly agree, that using a ten-cent word incorrectly does reflect poorly on the speaker. Using a ten-cent word when a five-cent word would do just fine is also generally bad form. But, using a ten-cent word correctly, to reflect some subtlety of meaning, doesn’t mean the speaker is trying to look smarter. It means the speaker IS smarter!
Porsche:
I’m still not convinced that societal is better than social. In the example you cited, I might have referred to the fraternity’s community activities being popular with the college. I do agree that there are a number of redundant words that are useful, particularly when writing a piece requiring synonyms to avoid overuse of the same word.
I do enjoy these discussions, regardless of the viewpoints expressed. It’s good to know that in this truncated, twittering, technocracy, there are still those who try to say what they mean, and mean what they say!
I always use societal because it makes more sense to me. Maybe because I used social in a different context as a kid. Writing papers in political science, I feel it better describes the point when I write about societal differences. Sorry if I offended anyone. ^_^
I just used societal in an article where I did not want to use social. The reason was because I wanted to refer to the idea of objective progress in society, and not to a subjective or shared idea motivating that progress, i.e. social progress.
Societal, in my view, takes the politics out of it, which is probably why it is used by social scientists and anthropolgists.
“He has social issues” vs. “He has societal issues”
One sounds like he has issues with socializing, the other issues with society.