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Old 11-16-2006, 03:41 AM   #1
dthomsen8
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Default Affect or Effect

This description of a swag was sent to me by a client:

"This attractive swag is made with a grapevine door arch base.
We add white and yellow Tulips in fan like fashion. We place English Ivy along the perimeter and between each flower for fullness. Finally, we add lovely peach/orange Dahlias for a striking affect."

This is an example of one of my pet peeves in today's English, using affect when effect is meant. Affect as a noun is about a feeling or emotion. Effect as a noun is about a result produced by some agency or action. In this case, the dahlias produce an effect. The striking effect is quite effective. I changed the word on the web site.
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Old 11-16-2006, 05:56 AM   #2
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Good for you: the world needs more people who care about sloppy usage. Mixing two words up means both end up with less distinctiveness. I can think of others too: 'imply' and 'infer' being one of my bugbears.

I'm intrigued by what one uses these swags for? Dahlias always rot and go disgustingly soggy soon after cutting IME (and they are full of earwigs - eeeek).
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Old 11-16-2006, 06:15 AM   #3
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Default Swags with Dahlias

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Originally Posted by LoisWakeman View Post
I'm intrigued by what one uses these swags for? Dahlias always rot and go disgustingly soggy soon after cutting IME (and they are full of earwigs - eeeek).
These dahlias have no earwigs, because they are artificial flowers. I forgot that you wouldn't have the photo, which I now attach for you, and any lurkers.

The site itself will have a PayPal shopping cart when it goes into production use next week (I hope!). Then I will post the URL for comments. She has done almost all the descriptions of the wreaths, swags, and floral arrangements in baskets, in vases, and on hats, with very little editing by me. I was expecting to get comments on technical matters and search engine optimization, but now I realize that comments on the descriptive wording should also be invited.


My client has limited the PayPal account to US orders, though.
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Old 11-16-2006, 09:05 AM   #4
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Aha - now I know what they are for: practising with the duster!
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Old 11-16-2006, 07:22 AM   #5
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Quote:
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Mixing two words up means both end up with less distinctiveness. I can think of others too: 'imply' and 'infer' being one of my bugbears.
To lie (the meaning related to reclining) and to lay (the meaning pertaining to the placement of a physical object). In this regard, whoever wrote the child's prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep ..." did us no favors.

   
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Old 11-16-2006, 08:51 AM   #6
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Quote:
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To lie (the meaning related to reclining) and to lay (the meaning pertaining to the placement of a physical object). In this regard, whoever wrote the child's prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep ..." did us no favors.
Only misunderstanding, I guess? The "physical object" in there is "me". Lay me down = lie down; both correct usage I think, only "lay me down" sounds archaic to me.

   
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Old 11-17-2006, 08:17 AM   #7
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Only misunderstanding, I guess? The "physical object" in there is "me". Lay me down = lie down; both correct usage I think, only "lay me down" sounds archaic to me.
I agree with you. I think this is a reflexive usage of to lay. "Reflexive: Of, relating to, or being a verb having an identical subject and direct object, as dressed in She dressed herself" (American Heritage Dictionary).

The less archaic version would be "Now I lay myself down to sleep", and the modern, straightforward way to write it would be "Now I lie down to sleep", the verb to lie being one that takes no object. But a lot of people don't buy that.

   
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Old 11-17-2006, 03:13 PM   #8
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You really had me there with 'swag'!

To us, a swag is a blanket roll encased in canvas, used by swagmen (rarely seen these days), and station workers and drovers for camping out with cattle.

So you can imagine my confusion when you started talking about trellis and flowers.

   
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Old 11-17-2006, 10:08 PM   #9
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Very interesting link! It reminded me that I bought a book by Henry Lawson a couple of months ago. I was in a secondhand bookstore that was having a half-price sale, so I was having a field day. I found the book (When the Billy Boils, IIRC) somewhere in the paperbacks section and from the title I knew it was Strine.

Unfortunately, I can't remember where it put the book -- I went through the stacks of other books I bought (mostly big heavy design-related books), and, perhaps appropriately, the Lawson seems to have gone walkabout.

Now I'm afeared that it never made it into the bag, and was left on the bookstore counter. I'll have to do a more extensive search.

mxh
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Old 11-18-2006, 12:24 PM   #10
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That would be While the billy boils and it's a great book. I do hope you find your copy.

I have a copy of his complete prose works, and my favourite is The loaded dog. Not sure how well it works on the screen...

   
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