PSA: Quick disambiguation for the word-confused

Nov 09, 2005 09:19

A tenant is someone who lives in a place.

A tenet is a principle or belief held by a group (or an individual, but usually you use it in reference to an organized group).

An effect is the result of some cause.

An affect is the look of someone and how feelings touch their face and body language. (A "flat affect", where the emotions aren't communicated well, is a symptom of schizophrenia.)

To effect is to bring about a result.

To affect is to influence something or someone.

The big difference between the verb forms is the object. You effect a result, but you affect something that feels that result. You can effect the movement of a ball across a field by kicking it, in which case you affect the ball (and the game, and the players, and the audience, ....).

psa, definition

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