[oclug] [OT] Word of the day: Affect/Effect

[Ian! D. Allen]

On Fri, Jun 27, 2003 at 02:25:09PM -0400, Jim Little wrote:
> So I would be negligent in not pointing out there is more than a negligible
> difference between these two words ;-)

I'm glad you brought up such a subtlety.  May I introduce one?

The effect of your words might affect more people than you think.
If you effected a more vociferous demonstration, the affected parties
might even complain.  The emotional affect produced by such an effect
might be fun to watch.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=affect

    Usage Note: Affect and effect have no senses in common. As a verb
    affect is most commonly used in the sense of "to influence" (how
    smoking affects health). Effect means "to bring about or execute":
    layoffs designed to effect savings. Thus the sentence These measures
    may affect savings could imply that the measures may reduce savings
    that have already been realized, whereas These measures may effect
    savings implies that the measures will cause new savings to come
    about.

-- 
-IAN!  Ian! D. Allen   Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
   EMail: idallen at idallen.ca   WWW: http://www.idallen.com/
   College professor via: http://teaching.idallen.com/
   Board Member, TeleCommunities CANADA  http://www.tc.ca/