Effect, special or not

Jackie · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:35 pm

When did "effect" become a word to be shunned? Or is that as useful as wondering why anyone with troubles (and I think that covers 99.8 percent of the planet's population) is always "embattled"?I just changed "impact" to effect for the third time today, and I've only been here 2 and a half hours. Geez!

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:51 pm

This is one of my pet peeves. I'm even more peeved when it's used as a verb.

KfitzR · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2004 1:50 pm

Although effecting change is often commendable.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:33 pm

i think our disdain for "impact" is one of those things we can let go of at some point.

Rio · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:17 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by jjmoney62:
i think our disdain for "impact" is one of those things we can let go of at some point.<hr></blockquote>***No, we can't.

majorbabs · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:09 am

The only time I like to see the word impacted is if it's a story about a painful tooth.

nstockdale · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:29 pm

I have trouble with "impact" as a verb. But as a noun? That's a battle I've never taken up.

Jackie · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:56 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by majorbabs:
The only time I like to see the word impacted is if it's a story about a painful tooth.<hr></blockquote>Or if two cars on perpendicular roads enter an intersection and neither of them yield.

SusanV · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 6:58 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Jackie:
Or if two cars on perpendicular roads enter an intersection and neither of them yield.<hr></blockquote> In which case, I'd use crashed, not impacted.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:22 pm

It's a losing battle it seems but hey even if something is becoming becoming part of the language it's still worth the occasional tweak to preserve elegance I reckon.

bwalsh · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:05 pm

If you were changing the questionable (or at least tarnished) verb "impact" to "affect," that would be good.If you're changing the perfectly good noun "impact" to "effect," you're engaging in peeve by association.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:12 pm

The tweak I had in mind is purely on the verb.

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:40 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Bill Walsh:
If you're changing the perfectly good noun "impact" to "effect," you're engaging in peeve by association.<hr></blockquote>I don't consider it a "perfectly good" noun. It's one of those chamber-of-commerce words used to make an effect seem greater than it is. "Effect" was a perfectly good noun, too, until somebody decided it wasn't strong enough to convey their message. Come to think of it, it still is.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:39 am

This discussion indicates it is probably best to leave this one behind and concentrate on other more important matters. I know for some of us, that will be difficult.

car copy · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:27 pm

Just one thing to add: We have to cut the word "tweak' out of all copy. Editor's orders.

ShiningPath · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:53 pm

Here's the problem when a fine noun like "impact" mutates into a verb: I once heard a politician on radio refer to the "impaction" of pending legislation. He was so accustomed to "impact" as a verb that he had to invent a corresponding noun.

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:50 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by ShiningPath:
Here's the problem when a fine noun like "impact" mutates into a verb: I once heard a politician on radio refer to the "impaction" of pending legislation. He was so accustomed to "impact" as a verb that he had to invent a corresponding noun.<hr></blockquote>I quote from Burchfield's edition of Fowler's:"... the verb has had a distinguished history from about 1600 onward, i.e., it is older than the noun."

pzicari · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:26 am

I have always told people they can use impact if they can hear the "thud." Most writers are afraid they won't remember to use effect or affect correctly. This fear is not uncommon. When was the last time you saw a form of "to lay" in the paper? I know writers who won't use pronouns, for fear they'll screw THEM up.

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:40 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Pete Zicari:
Most writers are afraid they won't remember to use effect or affect correctly.
<snip>
I know writers who won't use pronouns, for fear they'll screw THEM up.<hr></blockquote>Nor, apparently, do they trust the desk to catch the screw-ups they fear they'll make. So why don't we just stop using words that might be used incorrectly?Or, here's a thought: learn their correct usage.

Jackie · **Posted:** Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:38 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Bill Walsh:
If you're changing the perfectly good noun "impact" to "effect," you're engaging in peeve by association.<hr></blockquote>Bill, gotta disagree with you on this one. "Impact" no longer has impact if it's sprinkled throughout so many stories and used as a synonym for so many words. I tend to think of "effect" as a perfectly good noun, but for reasons I can only guess it's never used anymore.
Here's something a reporter wrote for today:
"The U.S. Forest Service ruled it would have adverse impacts on lichens, lakes and views....."
That just makes me want to cringe.And to answer an earlier post, of course I would never write that the cars "impacted." Geez...[ March 14, 2004: Message edited by: Jackie ]

SusanV · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2004 3:09 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Pete Zicari:
This fear is not uncommon. When was the last time you saw a form of "to lay" in the paper?
<hr></blockquote>Funny you should mention that. My boss, who also teaches a copyediting class at U.Md., told me just last week that not a single one of his current students got it right. I think it might possibly be the most rampant misuse of any verb out there. If not, then it must be second to misused past tenses of shrink and sink.[ March 15, 2004: Message edited by: SusanV ]

KfitzR · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2004 4:27 pm

At one paper where I worked, "to lay" was close to banned. Cornerstones and wreaths were to be "placed" so as not to awaken lewd images in readers' minds.

Testy Copy Editors

Effect, special or not

Who is online

What They're Saying

Useful Links