await vs wait

[loonyrationalist]

Please help are there specific rules?

DH wants to use

The contractor is awaiting the delivery of fencing prior to mounting signs.

My suggestion of

The contractor is waiting for the delivery of fencing before mounting signs.

Are both right or only one? Why does the first one make my teeth itch?

They're both right but saying "awaiting" in this context is a bit poncey and I'd be deeply suspicious of a fencing contractor who was "awaiting" anything. Also I don't think it's normal to talk about people "awaiting" stuff- it's usually "a storm awaits the sailors" type of thing.

Prism Thankyou, I think I agree as well as being poncey, I don't think awaiting should be used for a specific things so you have put my concerns very well. I knew I could rely on pedants' corner :)

The thing about waiting is that it implies consciousness- you can't really wait for something if you don't know you're waiting for it, so if you say "the fencing is waiting to be put up", you're speaking slightly metaphorically, whereas if you say that the contractor is waiting to put it up you're not. So with no hint of ponciness we can say that "your flight is awaiting departure" or "the fencing is awaiting delivery", as this involves objects and abstract nouns which only in Toy Story would be able by themselves to wait for anything.

So "await" enables us to put inanimate objects and conceptual entities into a state of anticipation that they could not really experience, for the purpose of saying concisely (unlike the way I am doing now) what is intended to happen to them. Using the same verb for a person imputes to him or her a certain inanimate quality, that is likely to make your teeth (or anyone's) itch.

Yes, an inanimate quality in a contractor is very likely to make teeth itch.