Irregardless, Grammar is our Friend

[aybee]

Vacationland said:

...unless you're a psychiatrist (or are writing about psychology). In that case, you might use "affect" to describe someone's mental state ("He had a flat affect and appeared to be suffering from clinical depression.") To make this quirky little exception to the rule even more fun, when affect is used as a noun, it's pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable...sorta like "Affleck" (as in Ben).

But banky is right, the affect=verb/effect=noun is a pretty good general rule.

There's also the phrase "to effect a change," but you're right, the abovementioned is the general rule. It does get confusing.

[Deleted]

Just remember that "effect" is always a noun, and "affect" is always a verb. So you have an effect on something, but your actions affect others. That's all there is to it.

Ooooooh! That's it? God, I'm an idiot.

Thanks, guys!

[Deleted]

How about the old ones reversing back, aaxed instead of asked and "things got worst and worst", instead of worse and worse (or even worse, "things got worser and worser")?

[hasbro]

Where did Ad Homminem come from? It's everywhere now. I've got a friend that overuses it. What happened to "name calling" or "You just called the guy a douchebag."?

[Deleted]

Ad hominem isn't just name-calling. It's a logical fallacy whereby you attack your opponent instead of their arguments.

Linky

[binny]

All this talk of chai and espresso mispronunciation is reminding me of the phobia that arises whenever I'm not quite sure how to say an item on a menu. The horror.

What about when someone takes the liberty of adding a syllable to a word? Conversely, the adding of an "r" to a word so many New Englanders and Brits do doesn't bother me in the least bit. Actually, I find it endearing.

There was an absorbing special on PBS called "Do You Speak American?" that set out to represent all the different interpretations of the English language in the States. I discovered the basic differences between the views on language held by descriptivists and prescriptivists. I'm definitely going to look further into that.

Anyone in here read Eats, Shoots and Leaves?

Not yet, but I can't wait to get a hold of it. Anyone have any other grammar book recommendations? I suppose this is more on the language side of things, but I bought The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations a few months back and mostly have only skimmed it or used it as a quick reference. It reinforced my "AN-tee not AN-tie" conviction, though. I'm so anal about that. When I hear it pronounced correctly I get all giddy.

How much do you all love School House Rock?? I find my self singing those songs all the time, especially the chorus to "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here." Such good stuff.

[Deleted]

Binny, did you take the quiz on the same page that you linked? I came across that a few months ago and it BLEW my mind!

link

[Deleted]

I'm not so sure this is exactly a grammar thing... But in a book I recently read (I can't remember the book!) one of the characters was discussing this phrase:

"False pretences."

The narrator said that for ages nobody questioned that phrase until a student in a college class pointed out the redundancy of it. Is "redundant" even the right word? What is the word for a phrase that basically contradicts itself? In any event, the phrase makes no sense.

[Deleted]

What is the word for a phrase that basically contradicts itself?

You probably mean 'oxymoron.'

[Deleted]

Thank you, Mulva! That's one of those words that always eludes me. If someone says to me, "The doctors say it's benign cancer" or "there were casualties from friendly fire" I always verbally stumble all over the place saying, "That's... that's... you know, that phrase that contradicts itself..."