Hmm, probably caused in part by confusion between "fraught" meaning "marked by emotional tension" and "wrought" meaning "deeply stirred, excited". "Their fraught relationship got him wrought up."
God, yes. And the ones who don't know the difference between "affect" and "effect" or between "discrete" and "discreet." And don't even get me started on the cretins who can't tell "it's" from "its." (Remind me to tell you the story of my trying to teach these things to college juniors, back when I was a professor.)
A lot of my friends feel the same way; perhaps we should start a club. We can sit around and grumble about the state of the language. That's got to be less fraught than the state of the nation, which means we'll be less overwrought. :-)
The Grammar Grumblers, coming soon to a deli near you....
See, I'm one of those people you describe. "it's" and "its" I will mess up with less frequency now but some of the others I still have difficulty with. "Affect" and "Effect" I fight with people about. "Affect" has to do with emotions and "effect" has to do with change of physcial object or situations. I know that "discrete" and "discreet" have two meanings. I know what the two are, and I think I know which applies to which word but my spelling is none that good so....
Gramar never made sense to me when in school and only minorly so now. Drwex has been trying to teach me and I'm trying to learn so I can help our kids.
Part of the confusion is, they are both verbs and both nouns. The most common intended meanings, however, are: affect is a verb and effect is a noun. You affect something when you want to bring about an effect. The less common usages are: You effect (bring about) a change and bring about a difference in affect (not even really sure what this version of "affect" means, only that it's probably related to "affectation.") I lectured my lab students on this during the second session, after having to grade my very first lab reports.
You effect (bring about) a change and bring about a difference in affect (not even really sure what this version of "affect" means, only that it's probably related to "affectation.")
I'm not sure on the etymology, but "affect" in this sentence means "emotional state and outlook." So someone with a positive affect is upbeat, optimistic, hopeful, etc. Someone with a negative affect is pessimistic, depressed, sad, etc. A "flat affect" is a situation in which the person's emotional state cannot be determined - e.g. a "perfect poker face." Also some people with mental or emotional illnesses such as Asperger's project a flat affect that makes them hard to read/interpret.
Part of the confusion is that 'affect' in this sense refers generally to the external expression of emotional state, but also to the emotional state itself. So a person might have a "false affect" such as projecting an outwardly positive manner while inside feeling sad or depressed.
And "affect" as a noun is kind of jargony. Mental health professionals toss the word about with abandon, but it's not a meaning that most ordinary people know, even well-educated ordinary people.
Another of my pet peeves is "accept" and "except." Lately, I've seen the excrescence "axcept."
I think the cause of the problem in most people is a lack of reading; people don't know how words are spelled if they only hear them and never see them. I would love to make it as if TV had never been invented, but I guess that's a pet peeve for a separate topic. :-)
Back when I was a professor, I had a student thank me at the end of the semester for making him read a book. I had to wonder what his other professors were doing, if reading a book were a novel experience for him while in college. *shudder*
I'll have to revise my mental image of the people who make such mistakes, since YOU certainly aren't stupid.
I think the main confusion is because "affect" as a verb is similar to "effect" as a noun.
Gramar never made sense to me when in school and only minorly so now. Drwex has been trying to teach me and I'm trying to learn so I can help our kids.
Interesting. Since you pick up plenty of other things quickly, I wonder if you could have some sort of minor learning disability in this area.
Once again, I apologize to have included you in a class to which you do not belong!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 10:23 pm (UTC)That makes for an interesting mental picture.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 10:47 pm (UTC)Doesn't it, though?
I want to know what the *sensation* is of having one's ganglia twitch. If mine were doing it, how would I know? :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 11:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 10:45 pm (UTC)A lot of my friends feel the same way; perhaps we should start a club. We can sit around and grumble about the state of the language. That's got to be less fraught than the state of the nation, which means we'll be less overwrought. :-)
The Grammar Grumblers, coming soon to a deli near you....
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:43 am (UTC)Gramar never made sense to me when in school and only minorly so now. Drwex has been trying to teach me and I'm trying to learn so I can help our kids.
affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 03:06 am (UTC)Re: affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 01:41 pm (UTC)I'm not sure on the etymology, but "affect" in this sentence means "emotional state and outlook." So someone with a positive affect is upbeat, optimistic, hopeful, etc. Someone with a negative affect is pessimistic, depressed, sad, etc. A "flat affect" is a situation in which the person's emotional state cannot be determined - e.g. a "perfect poker face." Also some people with mental or emotional illnesses such as Asperger's project a flat affect that makes them hard to read/interpret.
Part of the confusion is that 'affect' in this sense refers generally to the external expression of emotional state, but also to the emotional state itself. So a person might have a "false affect" such as projecting an outwardly positive manner while inside feeling sad or depressed.
Re: affect and effect
Date: 2007-05-08 04:20 pm (UTC)Another of my pet peeves is "accept" and "except." Lately, I've seen the excrescence "axcept."
I think the cause of the problem in most people is a lack of reading; people don't know how words are spelled if they only hear them and never see them. I would love to make it as if TV had never been invented, but I guess that's a pet peeve for a separate topic. :-)
Back when I was a professor, I had a student thank me at the end of the semester for making him read a book. I had to wonder what his other professors were doing, if reading a book were a novel experience for him while in college. *shudder*
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 04:14 pm (UTC)I'll have to revise my mental image of the people who make such mistakes, since YOU certainly aren't stupid.
I think the main confusion is because "affect" as a verb is similar to "effect" as a noun.
Gramar never made sense to me when in school and only minorly so now. Drwex has been trying to teach me and I'm trying to learn so I can help our kids.
Interesting. Since you pick up plenty of other things quickly, I wonder if you could have some sort of minor learning disability in this area.
Once again, I apologize to have included you in a class to which you do not belong!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:25 am (UTC)*tiptoes away quickly*
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 01:08 pm (UTC)