[TAG] English lesson of the day: affect/effect

[Mike Orr]

I had to look up affect/effect to figure out which one to use here:

"There are exercises with light weights that have the same affect|effect 
as calisthenics."

The meanings sounded just barely different so I looked them up.

[1] http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/affect.html
[2] https://mit.imoat.net/handbook/affect.htm
[3] http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_spelprob.html

The answer is "effect".  Something that affects or effects causes an 
effect.  Affect (noun) is a specialized term in psychology.  #3 says 
this confusion goes back at least to the 1400s, and has an interactive quiz.

(#2 fails to note that effect (verb) is formalese.
"|The temperature reversal *effected* a major slowdown in the bacterial 
growth rate."
Normal people would say "caused" instead.
"The temperature reversal caused a hurricane.")

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