Sounds painful

New AEA 267 assistant chief hopes to impact students

AFFECT. THE WORD IS “AFFECT.” Or the phrase is “have an effect on” (which wouldn’t fit for print headline purposes, I get).

My theory is that “impact” has wormed its way into this position because no one knows how to use “affect” and “effect” correctly. (My other theory, which is closer to an established truth, is that marketing and public-relations people ruin language.) Almost all the time in regular conversation, “affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun.

You don’t get to “impact” unless you’re @SMOD2016 (come quickly, SMOD! Less than four months!).

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