Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sound-alike Words: Affect/Effect

This month we cover two little words that drive people nutso. (That's an erudite word related in etymology to batso.) Affect and effect confuse so many, people often avoid using them for fear of making a mistake. Fear not! Let ExcitingWriting be your guide.

Let's begin with the most common confusion between these two words.

Affect is a verb meaning to cause or influence an outcome. Thus, ''The poor employment market affected the housing numbers.''

Effect is a noun describing the result of a cause. Thus, ''The after-effects of the drug lingered.'' Or, ''The long-term effects of running a large deficit cannot be ignored.''

I know you are already confused so I'm going to give you a model you can easily memorize or refer to. It cuts through all the confusion:

It is thought that an overabundance of carbon dioxide affects global warming. The effects of global warming are everywhere around us, from polar icecaps to equatorial jungles. Note: ''effects'' usually takes ''of'' after it. It's a noun.

Is that clear? Affect is the ''influence'' verb. ''A'' affects ''B.'' Effect is the ''result'' noun caused by the influence. If you can memorize that, you've got the problem more than half solved.

The trouble is these words have some specialized usages:

Affect

As a noun, affect means a feeling or the projection of a feeling. Psychologists and psychiatrists routinely use the word to describe the feeling a person puts out. ''He had a depressed affect.''

As a verb, affect means to put on airs. He affected an air of being above it all.
He affected an upper-crust accent.

When you think about it, both these uses are sort of related. They both have to do with appearances.

Effect

As a noun, effect means to make an impression or give an appearance, to have a basic intent. That painting gives the effect of floating.

Effect can be used to describe when someone does something for show: Her histrionics were designed for effects. After all, that's where we get the term sound effects.

Now we come to a very specialized usage: Effects can mean belongings when used in the plural. Before leaving jail, he picked up his personal effects.

If you cannot memorize all this, carry this issue of the EWA with you at all times! You never know when you will need it.

Next month: more sound-alike words.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Sound-alike Words: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Elicit, to draw out, evoke. Her impassive manner elicited rage from her husband.
Illicit, illegal, as in illicit drugs.

Factious, given to forming parties or factions in opposition to governments. Factious politics in Washington, D.C.
Fractious, tending to cause or make trouble. Fractious behavior.
Facetious, jocular or witty in an inappropriate or silly manner. He was by turns silly and facetious.

Complacent means pleased or satisfied with the way things are, with how they affect one's self. It also means self-satisfied or smug.
Complaisant means attempting or eager to please or satisfy, obliging or affable. For example, sycophants are so complaisant.
Compliant means to be submissive. The regulatory world uses the word to indicate that a person or a company is in compliance or is compliant with certain governmental requirements. If we file our income tax on time, we're in compliance with IRS regulations, but does that make us submissive? Ask a Tea Party follower.

Thus, complacent refers to a satisfied state of mind. Both compliant and complaisant refer to a disposition to behave or conduct oneself in a way that pleases or satisfies others, not yourself. The second two words almost have an opposite meaning from the first, yet they all sound alike.

Discrete means separate or distinct. The scientists isolated five discrete viruses that they believe are responsible for causing the medical condition.
Discreet means showing good judgment, especially in terms of holding one's tongue. The best butlers are discreet. It can also mean modest and understated. For example, the discreet elegance of an interior decor, or a discreet neighborhood where no one puts on airs (affects an upper crust accent). The word discretion means displaying the quality of being discreet. Everyone confided in him because he was the height of discretion.

Allude means to hint at or refer to in passing. He alluded to the effects of a strong Euro and a relatively weak dollar. She alluded to the wide-spread aspirations created by a burgeoning middle class.
Elude means to escape, get away with. He went through security with more than an ounce of water and somehow managed to elude detection. The trio managed to elude police despite a high-speed chase.
Illude is not a word.

Gorilla is an ape.
Guerrilla (1 U, 2Rs and 2Ls) is a kind of soldier or warfare.

An eminent person is someone who is well known. A cardinal in the Catholic Church is sometimes called his eminence, meaning someone who is revered or well known.
Immanent means staying within, inherent. It also means taking place only in the mind, not outside it. This word also has a theological meaning, dwelling in the universe or dwelling in time.
Making matters more complicated, imminent means something that is about to happen. The attack was imminent.

Abstract means difficult to understand, theoretical or detached. It also means a short synopsis or summary of an article's main points. Oddly enough, abstract also means ''to steal,'' as in, ''He abstracted the attention of the professor.''
Abstruse means difficult to understand or dense.

Next month: Affect/Effect. Are there others that you would like me to cover? Send me a note and allude to your favorites.

If for any reason you would like me to drop your name from my list, just tell me. No hard feelings.

Close but no Cigarillo, II

Last month, I wrote: ''Words can be spelled similarly and sound alike when read aloud, yet they can have very different meanings. These are called homonyms.'' To be perfectly accurate, sound-alike words with different meanings, such as we discussed last month and will continue discussing this month, are called homophones. By contrast, homonyms are two or more words spelled and pronounced the same that have different meanings. Example: the noun, quail, which is a kind of bird, and the verb, quail, which means to falter, wither or decline. Another example: the verb, withers. Example: Talent withers on the vine at that company. And the noun, withers, which is the ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse. Example: Having no reins, he held on to the withers for dear life.

Now for some more homophones. I ask you: Have you ever been caught on the horns of these homophones?

To rein means to control or direct with straps fastened to a bit. To reign means to exercise authority like a monarch.

Accept means to receive willingly. Example: Accept no substitutes. Except means to exclude. Example: Open daily except Sunday.

Assent means to give one's approval, or agree. The court gave its assent. Ascent refers to something going up or rising, for example a balloon ascent, or a slope of some kind, for example, a steep ascent.

A principle is a high-minded value you might believe in while a principal is either a part-owner of a business, s star, or the administrative head of a school.

You write on stationery but when cars in a traffic jam don't move, they are stationary.

You might make an allusion to a work of art or literature as an indirect reference, but when you are flat-out wrong about something you hold an illusion.

Entomology is a branch of zoology that deals with the study of insects. Etymology is the study of word origins, tracing roots and meanings of words from one language to another through history.

To means towards. Too means in addition to. Example: I want to go, too. And two is the number that comes after one.

Loose means not tight. When you lose something, you misplace it.

The word then marks time. Sometimes it means next. Example: Then he walked away. Than is a comparison word meaning compared with. Example: This is larger than that.