Who's the Boss?

35. Who's The Boss?

Modern technology makes the writer's job far easier—and far more prone to error unless you take precaution. When you, as writers, rely on the stroke of the F7 key, the little green and red squiggles below your words, and the digital “brain” embedded in the document programs to do your thinking, you have lapsed into a far greater evil than have those who foisted these “aids” upon you. You have become lazy.

I. Many words will look correct to spell check, but are actually completely the wrong word for the sentence. Some spell checkers will still find usage errors, but many will not.

• Example: “The rivers to witch the name Mesopotamia refers are the Tigress and Euphrates.”
• Example: “The sight of Catalhuyuk is now manly a tourist attraction, though manly inspiring archeologists wont to work one a similar a dig.”

II. Other words will pass spell check, and may even pass a brief proofread, but their usage will depend entirely on the context and meaning of the sentence. Common words like this are:

• Their ("belonging to them"), there ("in that place"), they're ("they are")
• To ("toward"), too ("also"), two (the second number)
• Your ("belongs to you"), you're ("you are")
• Loose ("not tight"), lose (misplace")
• Were ("used to be"), we're (we are")

Other, less common (but equally important) mistakes occur some specific words:

• Hoard ("stash of wealth"), horde (the Huns!!!)
• Pour ("dispense liquid"), pore ("opening in a surface")
• Cite ("reference"), site ("location"), sight ("vision")
• Principle ("basis of truth or belief"), principal ("primary reason")
• Capitol ("the seat of government in a place"), capital ("primary" or "wealth")

There is not room or need to explain these at length, other than to suggest that you know the correct term for your context and employ it . . . well, correctly! Some of these homonymous words are discussed in section 12 (spelling) because they are actually spelling errors when employed in the wrong context.

III. Affect vs. Effect

“Affect” has two pronunciations and two major uses:

1. AF-fect (noun): an emotion or emotional state. This is usually a technical term used by social scientists and the like. Since you weren't around to psychoanalyze historical figures, this is not a common usage in historical writing.

• Example: “Caesar had a despondent affect when he realized Brutus' treachery.”

2. af-FECT is a verb meaning “to have an influence on.” This one is easily confused with its like sounding yet different friend, “effect.” It is also the version most commonly employed in historical writing.

• Example: “The quality of Mesopotamian soil was adversely affected by ancient irrigation techniques.”

“Effect” is usually used as a noun that indicates the result of some action.

• Example: “Myths of Assyrian brutality had a fearsome effect on their neighbors.”

IV. Test: you might do well to remember the common phrase “cause and effect” because the second word in this phrase—effect—also describes the most common usage of that word in sentences. It can be a handy mnemonic trick. Also, “cause” is a verb just like “affect” usually is; therefore, remembering “cause and effect” ought to remind you that “affect and effect” operate in the same way—“affect” is a cause and “effect” is a result. Usually.

• Example: “Cause is to affect as result is to effect.” Or, "Affect and result is the same as cause and effect." Or, "Affect and result."

Any of these can work to help you remember which word most commonly means which thing.

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Modern technology makes the writer's job far easier—and far more prone to error unless you take precaution. When you, as writers, rely on the stroke of the F7 key, the little green and red squiggles below your words, and the digital “brain” embedded in the document programs to do your thinking, you have lapsed into a far greater evil than have those who foisted these “aids” upon you. You have become lazy.
I.	Many words will look correct to spell check, but are actually completely the wrong word for the sentence. Some spell checkers will still find usage errors, but many will not.
	• Example: “The rivers to witch the name Mesopotamia refers are the Tigress and Euphrates.” • Example: “The sight of Catalhuyuk is now manly a tourist attraction, though manly inspiring archeologists wont to work one a similar a dig.”

II.	Other words will pass spell check, and may even pass a brief proofread, but their usage will depend entirely on the context and meaning of the sentence. Common words like this are:
	• Their ("belonging to them"), there ("in that place"), they're ("they are") • To ("toward"), too ("also"), two (the second number) • Your ("belongs to you"), you're ("you are") • Loose ("not tight"), lose (misplace") • Were ("used to be"), we're (we are")
	Other, less common (but equally important) mistakes occur some specific words:
	• Hoard ("stash of wealth"), horde (the Huns!!!) • Pour ("dispense liquid"), pore ("opening in a surface") • Cite ("reference"), site ("location"), sight ("vision") • Principle ("basis of truth or belief"), principal ("primary reason") • Capitol ("the seat of government in a place"), capital ("primary" or "wealth")
	There is not room or need to explain these at length, other than to suggest that you know the correct term for your context and employ it . . . well, correctly! Some of these homonymous words are discussed in section 12 (spelling) because they are actually spelling errors when employed in the wrong context.

III.	Affect vs. Effect
	“Affect” has two pronunciations and two major uses:
	1. AF-fect (noun): an emotion or emotional state. This is usually a technical term used by social scientists and the like. Since you weren't around to psychoanalyze historical figures, this is not a common usage in historical writing.
	• Example: “Caesar had a despondent affect when he realized Brutus' treachery.”
	2. af-FECT is a verb meaning “to have an influence on.” This one is easily confused with its like sounding yet different friend, “effect.” It is also the version most commonly employed in historical writing.
	• Example: “The quality of Mesopotamian soil was adversely affected by ancient irrigation techniques.”
	“Effect” is usually used as a noun that indicates the result of some action.
	• Example: “Myths of Assyrian brutality had a fearsome effect on their neighbors.”

IV.	Test: you might do well to remember the common phrase “cause and effect” because the second word in this phrase—effect—also describes the most common usage of that word in sentences. It can be a handy mnemonic trick. Also, “cause” is a verb just like “affect” usually is; therefore, remembering “cause and effect” ought to remind you that “affect and effect” operate in the same way—“affect” is a cause and “effect” is a result. Usually.
	• Example: “Cause is to affect as result is to effect.” Or, "Affect and result is the same as cause and effect." Or, "Affect and result."
	Any of these can work to help you remember which word most commonly means which thing.