Serious question, has anyone else seen people mix up 'affect' and 'effect' in work emails?

I keep seeing it in client reports, like last week someone wrote 'the new policy will not effect our timeline.' It matters because it makes the whole doc look sloppy. I learned the trick 'affect is an action, effect is the end result' from a grammar site six months ago. Does this mix-up drive anyone else nuts, or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_alice14d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, my friend just dealt with this! Her boss sent a company-wide email saying the merger would "affect a positive change" and she had to quietly explain the mistake to him later. She said he was totally embarrassed because he uses that phrase all the time in meetings. It really does make a big difference in how professional things look.

kim_martin13d ago

That part about him using it "all the time in meetings" is what gets me - @the_alice, it makes you wonder if anyone else caught it but didn't say anything, like a silent wink-wink thing happening behind his back.

zara4478d ago

Yeah, kim_martin's point about the silent wink-wink thing is spot on. I actually used to think getting "affect" and "effect" wrong was no big deal, like people just mix them up in casual talk. But after reading about that boss using "affect" wrong in a company-wide email, it changed my mind. That's a public document going to everyone, and one little mistake like that can make the whole thing look amateur hour. It's just not worth the risk when the "a for action, e for end result" trick is so easy to remember.