Jump to content
GreaseSpot Cafe

'A'ffect or 'E'ffect?


CoolWaters
 Share

Recommended Posts

TYVM.

I wondered if that was the 'bottom line' clue...one's a noun, the other's a verb.

So is it 'side effects' or 'side affects'? From what you posted I'm thinking it's 'side effects'. Right?

Is it 'effective' immediately' or 'affective immediately'? Again, I'm guessing 'effective immediately'...but I really am not getting it through my head.

Oh...are there any little tricks to remembering this? Like "I before E except after C"?

Edited by CoolWaters
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go to the politics forum.

You'll dicover there are more than two sides to everything and your side can affect the side effects of all the effective affectations.

Hopefully, this will help effectively affect the resulting effects.

Edited by Ron G.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Effect is a result of something that happened.

A hangover was the effect of Oenophile's overindulging his passion for pinot noir.

Affect is causal action on the object.

A good pinot noir affects Oenophile's mood in a sunny way.

That's how I keep it straight in my beleaguered and much maligned grey matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw this on a bumper sticker (courtesy of PBS) -----

"Born again, gun-toting, bible believing, pro-life, anti-abortion, right wing homophobic who is of the opinion that the Spotted Owl tastes like chicken" :)

If I were to say that, it might AFFECT you.

And if I were to say that here --- the EFFECT would be 19,000 (plus or minus a few) NEGATIVE posts, castigating me for daring to say such a thing!! :unsure:

Verb -- Noun /// Noun -- Verb :lol: :lol:

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw this on a bumper sticker (courtesy of PBS) -----

"Born again, gun-toting, bible believing, pro-life, anti-abortion, right wing homophobic who is of the opinion that the Spotted Owl tastes like chicken" :)

David

To those that either do or used to live in the Pacific NW, them thar are fighting words. <_< But knowing who you are David, I forgive you. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone's explanations have been correct, but just when you think you've got our magnificently rich language figured out, it throws you another curve. There are also these less common usages:

Main Entry: effect

Function: transitive verb

1 : to cause to come into being

2 a : to bring about often by surmounting obstacles : ACCOMPLISH <effect a settlement of a dispute> b : to put into operation <the duty of the legislature to effect the will of the citizens>

synonym see PERFORM

usage The confusion of the verbs affect and effect is not only quite common but has a long history. Effect was used in place of 3affect as early as 1494 and in place of 2affect as early as 1652. If you think you want to use the verb effect but are not certain, check the definitions in this dictionary. The noun affect is sometimes mistakenly used for effect. Except when your topic is psychology, you will seldom need the noun affect.

Main Entry: af·fect

Pronunciation: 'a-"fekt

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin affectus, from afficere

1 obsolete : FEELING, AFFECTION

2 : the conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes

(From Merriam-Webster Online)

Isn't English fun?!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Linda sort of beat me to the punch; but, yes, effect is used as a verb (though infrequently) as in "to effect a change." (I see it a lot in technical journals.) Affect as a noun is pretty much obsolete.

George

Note also that when a word is used as the word itself and not for what it represents, then it should be italicized or underlined.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...