[Ads-l] Weird use of "impact" to mean something like "negative situation"

[Laurence Horn]

I suspect it's a kind of one-off compression (or blend) of "the impact of
this public health [crisis]" (or some noun other than "crisis"), rather
than a new sense of "impact"
LH


On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 8:07 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> >  non-native collocation error
>
> It sounds weird to me, too, but I don't get that particular
> impression.feeling.
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 6:43 PM Stanton McCandlish <smccandlish at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Sure, I recognize that it's meant to be euphemistic, but "impact" just
> > really doesn't seem to work as a swap-in word. It kind of comes off as a
> > non-native collocation error.  I don't recall ever seeing it used in
> quite
> > this way.
> >
> > --
> > Stanton McCandlish
> > McCandlish Consulting
> > 5400 Foothill Blvd Suite B
> > Oakland CA 94601-5516
> >
> > +1 415 234 3992
> >
> > https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 12:49 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Crisis? Emergency? Too scary. Nowadays even "situation" is likely to
> > sound
> > > grim.
> > >
> > > I'm surprised they didn't pick the inspiring "challenge."
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 1:41 PM Stanton McCandlish <
> > smccandlish at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Saw this in a mass e-mail from Starbucks today:
> > > >
> > > > You may be aware that over the last few weeks we have
> > > > taken a series of precautionary steps in response to this
> > > > developing public health impact, including increased
> > > > cleaning and sanitizing procedures for our stores.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Stanton McCandlish
> > > > McCandlish Consulting
> > > > 5400 Foothill Blvd Suite B
> > > > Oakland CA 94601-5516
> > > >
> > > > +1 415 234 3992
> > > >
> > > > https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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