I heard a speaker today talk about the 3 most important aspects of organizations: knowledgeableness, nimbleness, and truthfulness.

Now, I don't have a problem with "truthfulness." While I know that "nimbleness" is a common word these days used to describe the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations, I don't like it. "Nimble," to me, is better used to describe the activities of a person or animal...or even wit. However, I have posted my dislike for that word before.

However, knowledgeableness? I didn't even think it was a legitimate word, but not only did I find that it is, I also found that knowledgeability is a word too. Why not just "knowledge?" These terms strike me as too contrived; it seems as though we can just add an "ability" or "ness" to anything.

Sure. It's all part of the adaptabilityness of the language.

How do you even use it? "What is the knowledgeableness of that class?" Can't you just say, "How knowledgeable is that class?" Or, "What kind of knowledge does that class have?"

quote:

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
How do you even use it? "What is the knowledgeableness of that class?" Can't you just say, "How knowledgeable is that class?" Or, "What kind of knowledge does that class have?"

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My suggestion: "His knowledgeableness on the subject exceeds those of his contemporaries."

Maybe this is how the word "knowledgeableness" is used?

Quote "...My suggestion: "His knowledgeableness on the subject exceeds those of his contemporaries."..."

How, exactly, does the meaning of this construction differ from that which I would have used, "...His knowledge of the subject exceeds that of his contemporaries..."?

I'm content to leave it to Richard, since he knows a lot more about it than others of his age.


~~~ jerry

The speaker probably used knowledgeableness so as to have three abstract nouns ending in -ness. I don't have any problem with any of the words: they're all three of them built up with common enough roots and sufixes. What about these sentences, describing somebody:

1. He is knowledgeable.
2. He has knowledge [of stuff].
3. He knows stuff.

I would probably used the construction "the orgainzation's knowledge" rather than "the knowledgeableness of the organization", but if I wanted a bulleted list with parallelly constructed abstract nouns, I'd probably go with:

perspicacity
agility
honesty

Latinate abstract nouns always seem nicer to me than English ones. This assumes that they're were honestly trying to communicate something, and not just bilking somebody with empty marketingese.

In that context, I can't see much difference in replacing 'knowledgeableness' with 'knowledge', but the inclusion of 'truthfulness' rather than 'truth' makes the parallel clearer.

To be truthful is either (a) to speak the truth (on this occasion), or more likely (b) to be in the habit of speaking the truth.

To be knowledgeable is not usually to know the answer, or an answer, or a or the fact; but to be someone who generally, habitually knows things (answers or facts).

So truthfulness is the propensity to be truthful; knowledgeableness is the propensity to be knowledgeable. It's not just truth or knowledge about some particular area, but a habit of mind, a breadth of application.

It appears to me that the speaker was not too skillful, and was attempting to sound erudite while doing quite the opposite. Consider the "ize" suffix phenomenon that took hold in business and academe a few years ago. It obfuscated more than it clarified. I see this as a parallel.

I suspect that I dislike 'knowledgeableness' because it lacks euphony; it has an ugly sound. As Asa has mentioned, is is similar to the 'ize' suffix, that is also ugly.

When you stop to think about it, the word "knowledgeable" is anomolous.

Other words suffixed -able such as affordable, changeable, imaginable, loveable, treatable are formed from verbs, with the '-able' form being a passive use: "able to be afforded", "able to be changed", "able to be imagined, loved, treated."

I'm not saying that pattern is universal; there may be exceptions. "Knowledgeable" is an exception: it is based on a noun, and it means "possessing that noun".

I wonder how that meaning arose.