ananiasanom's Journal: The effect/affect problem

Affect and effect are two different verbs, with related but quite different meanings.

Affect is the more common. To affect something is to alter it, usually but not always in a harmful way.

Effect is less common. To effect something is to cause it to happen. I noticed people starting to use this more commonly about eight years ago. Soon afterwards, people started to use the verb "to effect" instead of the verb "to affect", unaware of the difference in meaning. The difference is so strong that these people often end up saying the opposite of what they mean.

here is a good reference.

Google will give quite a few others.

I frequently correct this error in slashdot postings, not because I am a pedant (I am, but that's not the reason), but because the risk of confusion caused by this common error is so great. It costs me a bit of karma, but it's worth it if it prevents the confusion.

No personal criticism is intended by making the correction. When I first heard the error, I tended to accompany a correction with intense personal criticism, because I believe the root cause of the error was a desire to "show off" by using an uncommon construction, in ignorance of the actual meaning of the words. But now the misuse is so common that anyone can pick it up without unworthy motives.

Is it pointless to fight bad English? In general, yes. The language changes, often through mistakes of this kind, and it doesn't matter very much. I single this one error out for resisting because of the risk of harm caused by a misunderstanding. People are still using "to effect" in the correct sense at the same time as others are using to mean almost the opposite. This cannot be a good thing.

In a forum like Slashdot, careless mistakes are expected and acceptable. This error, however, is (usually) not a careless mistake but a lack of knowledge by the writer, and a simple correction can save them from ambiguity in more important arenas.

Bad communication kills.