海角大神

One has to marvel at all the resources available under the rubric of 鈥渄ictionary鈥� nowadays. It鈥檚 hard to believe that there was a time when it was plausible to speak of 鈥渢he dictionary鈥� 鈥� meaning Dr. Johnson鈥檚, on one side of the great pond, or Noah Webster鈥檚, on the other.听

An item that caught my eye the other day, at the , was the Real Grammar Quiz. Writer Michael Rundell explains that 鈥淩eal Grammar鈥� isn鈥檛 鈥渁bout the made-up or outdated 鈥榬ules鈥� which some people try to make us follow,鈥� but rather 鈥渋s based on the evidence of language in use.鈥�

He was writing on the question of impact as a verb. I know this usage goes back to 1600, but it鈥檚 still not my favorite. (The Monitor鈥檚 copy desk doesn鈥檛 like it much either.) Mr. Rundell provides a principled analysis, though, for why it鈥檚 acceptable and concludes, 鈥淥ur advice is to ignore irrational voices telling you that it鈥檚 wrong to use impact as a verb.鈥�

Let me offer here a framing question I try to keep in mind when considering style decisions: Does this new usage solve a new problem?听

In other words, don鈥檛 we already have a word for that?听

In the case of a new invention, a new thing of some sort, we obviously need a new word. So the coinage of new nouns tends to be relatively simple. Other new usages, not so much.

Contact used as a verb set traditionalists鈥� teeth on edge a generation ago. It has since been recognized as a useful umbrella term meaning 鈥渢o initiate communication鈥� in an era of multiple channels: e-mail, phone, text message, and (still!) postal mail. It鈥檚 a new usage that solves a new problem.

But affect arguably can do the work of impact as a transitive verb (鈥淭his impacts that鈥�). And impinge on or impinge upon can do the work of impact as an intransitive verb, as in 鈥淭his impacts on that.鈥� This intransitive sense, by the way, can get usage experts particularly riled up: Rundell notes that 85 percent of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel in 2001 rejected 鈥渋mpact on.鈥� 听

Sometimes the issue isn鈥檛 a new usage but the people who are using it. That may be part of the beef with 鈥渋mpact on.鈥� We may like to think our language is shaped by phrases from carefully crafted presidential utterances and the best lines from our playwrights and poets.听

But it may be that salesmen, mid-level bureaucrats, and well, teenage girls have more impact than we think. (I can say 鈥渋mpact鈥� there, can鈥檛 I?)

Yes, language changes, and no, we can鈥檛 keep it from doing so. But there are advantages to stability and uniformity.听

Just as a car needs both an accelerator and brakes, language benefits from both innovation and stabilizing forces such as standard rules for spelling, grammar, and usage.听

In the few pixels I control on the vast screen of the human experience, I鈥檓 going to keep my infinitives unsplit and will continue to distinguish between who and whom.听

And, although a generation hence, I may have another idea, for now, I鈥檒l generally avoid impact as a verb.