Writing for Business - A Whatis.com Blog » expeditious or expedient http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business Is your grammar as good as your code? Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:09:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Expeditious or expedient? http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/expeditious-or-expedient/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/expeditious-or-expedient/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:08:21 +0000 Ivy Wigmore http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/?p=922 Which is correct?
The colocation service provider promised to deal with all issues _____________.
a. expeditiously
b. expediently

Answer: a

Explanation:
Expeditiously means quickly; expediently implies a quick fix that is in the immediate best interests of the provider but not necessarily those of the client.

Merriam Webster defines expedient as:
1 : suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance
2 : characterized by concern with what is opportune; especially : governed by self-interest

Expedient, in current use, almost always carries that derogatory connotation. So if a service provider told me he’d deal with all issues expediently, I’d be inclined to take my business elsewhere.

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