Grammar Gremlins: 'Reach out' to contact someone

A reader says she squirms over such statements as "he asked me to reach out to you for an answer."

She wanted to know if "reach out" is becoming an acceptable synonym for "contact."

"Reach out" is acceptable in this sense, but it is, perhaps, a bit trendy.

If the meaning of "reach out" is clearly either "call" or "write," the specific verb is preferable, according to Garner's Modern American Usage.

It's worth pointing out here that the use of the noun "contact" in this sense, as a verb, made usage authorities squirm in the early 1900s.

Today, however, the use of "contact" as a verb is standard usage.