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Subject:Re: Ok, let me have it. Mired in minutiae. From:Megan McMacken <mcmackme -at- FRC -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:16:51 -0400
>If we sidestep the "your / you're" issue, what about this use of the word
>"hopefully."
I had a college professor who spent half of a lecture discussing the misuse
of the word "hopefully." It's an adverb, but writers and speakers very
rarely associate it with a verb. I finally decided to go ahead and misuse
it in conversation and informal writing, but I think I have successfully
purged it from my professional vocabulary. :)
Another word that is often misused is "impact." An "impact" (n) is a
"forceful contact, collision, or onset." To "impact" (v) is to "press
together; to have an impact on." So what does it mean to have a "positive
impact" on someone or something? Gee, sounds rather painful. In most cases
"positive influence" or "positive effect" is what a writer is really trying
to say.
Perhaps "impact" should fall into the same category as "proactive."
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Megan E. McMacken
Product Development and Documentation
FANUC Robotics North America, Inc.
Rochester Hills, Michigan
megan -dot- mcmacken -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com
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