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Convince vs. Persuade (WAS: Displays versus Appears )
Subject:Convince vs. Persuade (WAS: Displays versus Appears ) From:Robbie Cooper <Robbie -dot- Cooper -at- pervasive -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:37:00 -0600
<When I read of someone "convincing" someone else to do something, it sets
off an alarm in me immediately. What good is it to have words with precise
meaning, such as "convince," if we misuse them so badly?>
I couldn't agree with you more, Herman.
For those of you reaching for your dictionary...
While convince and persuade are synonyms...there is a usage distinction:
Usage Note: According to a traditional rule, one persuades someone to act
but convinces someone of the truth of a statement or proposition: By
convincing me that no good could come of staying, he persuaded me to leave.
If the distinction is accepted, then convince should not be used with an
infinitive: He persuaded (not convinced) me to go. In an earlier survey, a
majority of the Usage Panel held that this distinction should be maintained,
but the use of convince with an infinitive has become increasingly common
even among reputable writers, and it is unlikely that this stricture can be
maintained for much longer
Robbie Cooper
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