Re: Most hated neologisms/incorrect usage

Robert Lieblich <r_s_lieblich@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

Evan Kirshenbaum wrote:

Robert Lieblich <r_s_lieblich@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

Blue Hornet wrote:

How about "effect" and "affect"--both noun and verb forms, as
well as the adjectives "effective" and "affective"--used
interchangeably?

That's just ignorance.

Note, however, that for some of us, at least, the two words (as
verbs and adjectives, at least, and the more common of the nouns)
are homophones, so it's really just a question of spelling.

Not "just." When you mean "the" and type "teh," that's just a
question of spelling. Whe you mean "you're" and type "your,"
there's something more than "just" spelling going on, which is why
we tend to call that particular goof a thinko, not a typo.

Actually, I'd call that a typo, too. It's typically miscommunication
between brain and fingers. (Or, rather, between the language part of
the brain and the typing part of the brain.)

By the time you write "Cancer effects one-fourth of all Americans,"
you're beyond thinkos and into error.

"Error", yes. "Ignorance", no. I'd put it more in line with
"discreet" and "discrete", "break" and "brake", "principal" and
"principle", "compliment" and "complement", "forward" and "foreward",
"gage" and "gauge", "carat" and "karat" and "caret", "stationery" and
"stationary", and the like. For a lot of people, they know there are
two words, spelled differently, but they have trouble remembering
which is which.

And I, at least, am careful to pronounce "affect" and "effect"
differentily for just that reason.

Then they're not homonyms for you, which makes it easy to keep them
straight.

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Society in every state is a blessing,
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |but government, even in its best
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |state is but a necessary evil; in its
|worst state, an intolerable one.
kirshenbaum@xxxxxxxxxx | Thomas Paine
(650)857-7572

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/


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