# Yes, the word 'impact' may be used as a verb **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384 "2012-04-30T03:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/1 "2012-04-30T03:09:49Z")
I am taking an online class. I submitted a paper that I just received back from the professor. She deducted 1/10 of a point because I used the word impact as a verb. The paper was, apparently, otherwise perfect. My grade is a 99.9%. I posted a message back to the instructor stating that the word impact may be used as a noun or a transitive verb. I included two online dictionary references to back me up, plus an example from both CNN and the New York Times. Obviously the tenth of a percentage is not a huge deal, but I did want to state my case. Here’s the topper: She wrote a scenario as a weekly question that we have to respond to. This is the last sentence of her scenario: “What advise would you give him?” mmm ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/2 "2012-04-30T03:23:50Z")
I think the instructor was needlessly nit-picking, but I do appreciate her effort. Now, can someone work on the people who use “gift” as a verb? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/3 "2012-04-30T05:54:44Z")
"Lastly, I would advise him that ‘advice’ is the noun form of the verb ‘advise.’ " ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/4 "2012-04-30T06:20:31Z")
This is a matter of some controversy: [Impact - definition of impact by The Free Dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/impact) Usage Note: The use of impact as a verb meaning “to have an effect” often has a big impact on readers. In our 2001 survey, 85 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of the construction to impact on, as in the sentence _These policies are impacting on our ability to achieve success_; fully 80 percent disapproved of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence _The court ruling will impact the education of minority students._ · It is unclear why this usage provokes such a strong response, but it cannot be because of novelty. Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant “to fix or pack in,” and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935. It may be that its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts continues to make people suspicious. Nevertheless, the verbal use of impact has become so common in the working language of corporations and institutions that many speakers have begun to regard it as standard. It seems likely, then, that the verb will eventually become as unobjectionable as contact is now, since it will no longer betray any particular pretentiousness on the part of those who use it. See Usage Note at contact. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/5 "2012-04-30T09:08:53Z")
I think “impact” is fine as a verb, and I have a soft spot for the adjective “impactful” as well. Good marketing words (I work in advertising and PR). ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/6 "2012-04-30T09:16:59Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I am taking an online class. I submitted a paper that I just received back from the professor. She deducted 1/10 of a point because I used the word impact as a verb. > > The paper was, apparently, otherwise perfect. My grade is a 99.9%. > > I posted a message back to the instructor stating that the word impact may be used as a noun or a transitive verb. I included two online dictionary references to back me up, plus an example from both CNN and the New York Times. > > Obviously the tenth of a percentage is not a huge deal, but I did want to state my case. > > Here’s the topper: She wrote a scenario as a weekly question that we have to respond to. This is the last sentence of her scenario: "What advise would you give him?"mmm Send your resume to the educational facility that is hosting these classes. Any instructor who doesn’t know that **impact** can be used as a verb, and who believes that **advise** is a noun needs to be outed. You might have yer’self a new job Mean Mister!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/7 "2012-04-30T09:43:10Z")
Twenty or twenty-five years ago I HATED “impact” as a verb outside the field of astronomy. But I have become quite accustomed to it, and even use it myself. “The policy will impact school children” sounds fine to me, and subtly different from, “The policy will affect school children.” Language changes. Once upon a time people were outraged by the use of the word “handbook”, or so I recall from my reading of historical linguistics. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/8 "2012-04-30T12:28:24Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I am taking an online class. I submitted a paper that I just received back from the professor. She deducted 1/10 of a point because I used the word impact as a verb. Good. And the fact the the prof ran afoul of a form of Gaudere’s law is a meaningless tu quoque. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/9 "2012-04-30T12:55:52Z")
Hijack: there’s a Henry Fonda film called _Advise & Consent_, based on a novel of the same name. I always assumed “advise” in this case was merely an alternative Amercian English spelling of “advice”. It seems unlikely that the verb “advise” was intended. So it was just a spelling mistake? I don’t see much wrong with “impact” as a verb. English has always been open to using nouns or verbs, verbs as nouns, nouns as adjectives, and so on. Part-of-speech categorisation is hazy. You want to talk about a man made of snow, you just say “snow man”, not “snowly man” or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/10 "2012-04-30T13:06:00Z")
You could tell her you would argue the point, but you have an impacted wisdom tooth. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/11 "2012-04-30T13:11:23Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Hijack: there’s a Henry Fonda film called _Advise & Consent_, based on a novel of the same name. I always assumed “advise” in this case was merely an alternative Amercian English spelling of “advice”. It seems unlikely that the verb “advise” was intended. So it was just a spelling mistake? No - the verb was intended. The title is a phrase from the Rules of the Senate: "1. When nominations shall be made by the President of the United States to the Senate, they shall, unless otherwise ordered, be referred to appropriate committees; and the final question on every nomination shall be, “Will the Senate **advise and consent** to this nomination?” which question shall not be put on the same day on which the nomination is received, nor on the day on which it may be reported by a committee, unless by unanimous consent. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/12 "2012-04-30T13:18:13Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > No - the verb was intended. The title is a phrase from the Rules of the Senate: "1. When nominations shall be made by the President of the United States to the Senate, they shall, unless otherwise ordered, be referred to appropriate committees; and the final question on every nomination shall be, “Will the Senate **advise and consent** to this nomination?” which question shall not be put on the same day on which the nomination is received, nor on the day on which it may be reported by a committee, unless by unanimous consent. I see, thanks. I did check the Wikipedia entry for the film, but it quotes an excerpt from the US constitution instead - "“shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint […] Officers of the United States”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/13 "2012-04-30T13:51:30Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > And the fact the the prof ran afoul of a form of Gaudere’s law is a meaningless tu quoque. One of us misunderstands Gaudere’s law. I don’t think it is me. And in pointing out her misspelling of the word _advice_, my intent was not to imply that it was meaningful, just amusing. mmm ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/14 "2012-04-30T13:59:37Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > You could tell her you would argue the point, but you have an impacted wisdom tooth. “Bowel” might be more appropriate in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/15 "2012-04-30T14:00:38Z")
I don’t like “impact” as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/16 "2012-04-30T14:05:59Z")
“If something can become impacted (a tooth, a colon, etc.), doesn’t that imply that it is possible to impact that thing?” Or maybe the above sentence be: “If something can become impacted (a tooth, a colon, etc.), doesn’t that imply that it is possible to cause that thing to become impacted?” Does the existence of the adjective “impacted” imply the existence of the verb “impact”? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/17 "2012-04-30T14:26:19Z")
Tell her she’s fifty years behind the time. “Impact” has been used as a verb since 1601, and in the sense of “affect” since the 1930s. The OED doesn’t even call it slang or make any warnings whatsoever about its usage. According to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > [@Dictionary.com](#): > > The verb impact has developed the transitive sense “to have an impact or effect on” ( The structured reading program has done more to impact the elementary schools than any other single factor ) and the intransitive sense “to have an impact or effect” ( The work done at the computer center will impact on the economy of Illinois and the nation ). **Although recent, the new uses are entirely standard and most likely to occur in formal speech and writing.** (bolding mine) As is typical for this sort of grammatical nitpicking, the person calling it incorrect never bothered to look the word up in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/18 "2012-04-30T14:29:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t like “impact” as a verb. I do. 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/19 "2012-04-30T14:43:09Z")
Impact is a word often used to cover up a person’s ignorance of the correct usage of affect and effect. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384/20 "2012-04-30T15:46:21Z")
I fail to see why this is controversial. Who on earth is confused by the use of impact as a verb? People can’t follow directions, don’t bother to vote, and buy houses they can’t afford, but this is supposed to be some kind of educational concern? I feel really sorry for my grandchildren (which luckily I don’t have yet). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-word-impact-may-be-used-as-a-verb/620384.md?page=2)