[rescue] Affect or Effect? (was re: FW: Sun Microsystems to Cut Jobs ...)

[Sheldon T. Hall]

In Message: 12 on Fri, 5 Oct 2001 16:46:55 -0400 to rescue at sunhelp.org, Big
Endian <bigendian at mac.com> held forth on the Subject: Re: [rescue] FW: Sun
Microsystems to Cut Jobs, Sees Wider-Than-Expected Loss thusly:

>>  >When did "impact" become a verb? GAhhh! It sets my teeth on edge
>>to hear the word
>>>used that way!! What's wrong with "affect"?
>>
>>affect or effect?
>>
> effect is a noun.  It will have a significant EFFECT on our business.
> affect is a verb.  It will AFFECT our business in a significant way.

Usually, but not always.

effect is also a verb.  One can EFFECT a change, i.e. make a change.
affect is also a noun.  A psychologist would assess a person's AFFECT as
part of an evaluation. (Pronounced with the accent on the first syllable.)

To add to the confusion, AFFECTED can be either a past-tense verb (He
AFFECTED course of events) or an adjective (An AFFECTED manner.)

Nothing, but nothing, about English is simple, straightforward, or
consistent.  How anyone, even native speakers, learn it is beyond me.

Still, it's the best we've got.

-Shel