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What's a word you've spent a long time not using right? (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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Just recently I was in a conversation with a number of UK mainlanders and we had a debate over what "tories" meant, apparently disproportionately ordinarily it refers to a political party and it's not usual to use it as short for "territories" as I've used it (according to how the debate ended, it was half and half between them). And once again I'm reminded of how people feel to look back at their usage of a word/phrase over the years and cringe.

More tragically, me and a friend were embarrassed once upon realizing everyone was confusing "encephalitis" with "hydrocephalus" when talking to someone about their kid with hydrocephalus. Awkward because encephalitis is caused by HIV.

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[โ€“] 20 points 2 years ago

Effect and affect are both verbs. They are also both nouns.

effect n. meaning as you described: "The effect of the potion was that I grew three sizes."
affect v. meaning as you described: "The potion affected everyone the same way."
effect v. meaning "to successfully cause": "The potion I'm mixing will effect a revolution among the goblins."
affect n. meaning face or appearance: "Realizing she was about to drink the life-changing potion, the goblin's entire affect shifted to delight."

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