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February072006

We're Aghast: "Impacted" in Talk!

Filed under: Letters & Challenges   Tagged: , , , ,

An attentive friend writes:


Could you please do a post about the shocking, outrageous, and downright unacceptable use of "impacted" in last Monday's Talk section? I've just got around to reading it, and it has upset me gravely:

[Link to "Moneyman," by John Cassidy; "Greenspan himself, in a research paper that he co-wrote last year at the Fed, has pointed out how the proliferation of home-equity loans, which allow people to cash out some of the rising value of their homes, has impacted the economy."]

And that's not all. I myself saw an improper "hopefully" somewhere in the back of the book within the past six months. There are so rarely mistakes or syntactical errors of judgment in the magazine that when they do appear, they jump out like zombies in the dark countryside—looming, lurching, and impossible to explain.

Let's consult our old friends William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, who had definite views about this: "Noun used as verb. Many nouns have lately been pressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but all are suspect." I quote from the newest edition of The Elements of Style, gorgeously illustrated by Maira Kalman. According to a longtime copy editor I know, the Kalman edition contains several errors. This I must see for myself, I said, so I bought it, and so far all I've seen are Strunk and White's lilting sentences and a loving, mildly peevish introduction by Roger Angell. (White's 1979 needless-word-less introduction is also here.) But I haven't read every page; when I do, you'll know.

Needless-word-less—hyphens, en dash, or close up? Needless-wordless? That has the wrong flavor, I think.

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Comments

USAGE NOTE The use of impact as a verb meaning “to have an effect” often has a big impact on readers. 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; 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.•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 Notes at contact.

AnonymousFebruary 13, 2006
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