This can all be avoided with The Elements of Style

As a technical writer I have these debates all the time. I recently had a back and forth with a director who wanted to use the word “utilize” as opposed to use in all the documentation. I tried to explain that use and utilize are the same and that use is simpler which is what works in technical writing. I gave him a copy of The Elements of Style and googled some other sources about it and I haven’t heard a word since.