[hijack] I’m not sure if Bucky was making a joke or seriously calling word usage into question (either motive is fine with me :)), but since I LOVE words, their usage and grammar, I thought I’d take a quick look at the these words using good old Dictionary.com as a reference source.
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“Impact” and “Impacted” from Dictionary.com:
im·pact
n.
- The striking of one body against another; collision.
- The force or impetus transmitted by a collision.
- The effect or impression of one thing on another: still gauging the impact of automation on the lives of factory workers.
- The power of making a strong, immediate impression: a speech that lacked impact.
v. im·pact·ed, im·pact·ing, im·pacts
v. tr.
- To pack firmly together.
- To strike forcefully: meteorites impacting the lunar surface.
- Usage Problem. To have an effect or impact on.
*v. intr. Usage Problem *
To have an effect or impact.
Usage Note: Each generation of critics seems to select one particular usage to stand as the emblem of what they view as linguistic crassness. Thirty years ago it was the use of contact as a verb, but opposition to that form has more or less disappeared, and attention now focuses on the verbal use of impact meaning “have an effect, affect.” Eighty-four percent of the Usage Panel disapproves of the construction to impact on, as in the phrase social pathologies, common to the inner city, that impact heavily on such a community; and fully 95 percent disapproves of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence Companies have used disposable techniques that have a potential for impacting our health. But even these figures do not reflect the degree of distaste with which critics view the usage: in their comments some Panelists labeled the usage as “bureaucratic,” “pretentious,” “vile,” and “a vulgarism.” · It may be that the particular pretentiousness associated with the verbal use of impact is caused by its derivation from an already questionable metaphoric use of the noun impact, as in phrases such as the political impact of the decision or the impact of the program on the community, in which no more is usually meant than might have been expressed by effects or consequences. But though impact may have begun life a generation ago as an inflated substitute for “affect significantly,” it has by now become so common in corporate and institutional contexts that younger speakers appear to regard it as wholly standard and straightforward usage. Within a few years, accordingly, the usage is likely to be no more objectionable than contact is now, since it will no longer betray any particular pretentiousness on the part of those who use it.
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“Quote” from Dictionary.com:
quote
n.
- Informal. A quotation.
- A quotation mark.
- Used by a speaker to indicate the beginning of a quotation.
- Usage Problem. A dictum; a saying.
Usage Note: As a transitive verb quote is appropriately used to describe the use of an exact wording drawn from another source. When the original source is paraphrased or alluded to, the more general term cite is usually preferable. The noun quote is well established as a truncation of quotation, though many critics regard it as unduly journalistic or breezy. As such, it is best avoided in formal literary discussions. The use of the noun was acceptable to only 38 percent of the Usage Panel in the sentence He began the chapter with a quote from the Bible. But the usage is less objectionable in informal contexts or in reference to less august sources; the word was acceptable to 53 percent of the Panel in the sentence He lightened up his talk by throwing in quotes from Marx Brothers movies. The noun quote is sometimes used as a synonym for “dictum, saying,” as in His career is just one more validation of Andy Warhol’s quote that “in the future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes.” This example was unacceptable to 76 percent of the Usage Panel.
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