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

Baker, John JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM
Fri Mar 13 14:02:51 UTC 2020


I’m not sure why it seems so weird to people.  It’s just a way of saying “this developing public health effect.”  I think we all know what the developing public health effect is, and it may even have been explicitly stated in the longer writing, of which this is an excerpt.  I would characterize it as poorly written, but not weirdly so.


John Baker

From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 8:07 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Weird use of "impact" to mean something like "negative situation"

External Email - Think Before You Click


> 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<mailto: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<https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 12:49 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto: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<https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish>
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<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<http://www.americandialect.org>
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<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<http://www.americandialect.org>

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