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Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

Well, last month’s Exciting Writing Advisory was a hit. My subscribers took the survey and 100% of them said the issue was helpful. A number of you suggested your own favorites. Only three subscribers wrote me to point out that I had used an incorrect word in the text of the newsletter itself. I twice used “entomology(ies)” when I should have used “etymology(ies).” Entomology means the study of insects. Etymology means the history of words. Entomology/etymology: A perfect homonym! The three who wrote me about my confusion: Bob Green, Emet Schneiderman and Michael Milhite. Trust me: These are three smart, observant people! If you like this EWA, let me know. Send me your favorite homonyms!
–Chuck Lustig

A Hymn to Homonyms

Let’s review what we covered last month: Homonyms are pairs of words that sound alike but have radically different meanings. Let’s cover one that Jennifer Burgess suggested: Affect / Effect. It drives people nutso. (By the way, “nutso” is a high-level, refined word that is related in etymology to “batso.”) Let’s start with the most common confusion between these two words.

Affect is a verb meaning to cause or influence an outcome. Thus, “The downdraft in the Asian markets affected the Dow.”

Effect is a noun describing the result of a cause. Thus, “The after-effects of the drug lingered.”

I know you are already confused, so I’m going to give you a model you can easily memorize or refer to. It cuts through all the confusion:

It is thought that an overabundance of carbon dioxide affects global warming. The effects of global warming are everywhere around us, from polar icecaps to equatorial jungles.

Is that clear? Affect is the “influence” verb. Effect is the “result” noun caused by the influence. If you can memorize that, you’ve got the problem more than half solved.

The trouble is these words have specialized usages that cause even more confusion:

Affect

As a noun, affect means a feeling or the projection of a feeling. Psychologists and psychiatrists routinely use the word to describe the feeling a person puts out. “He had a depressed affect.”

As a verb, affect means to put on airs. He affected an air of being above it all.
He affected an upper-crust accent

Effect

As a noun, effect means to make an impression or give an appearance, to have a basic intent. That painting gives the effect of floating.

Effect can be used to describe when someone does something for show: Her histrionics were designed for effects. After all, that’s where we get the term sound effects from.

Now we come to a very specialized usage: Effects can mean belongings when used in the plural. Before leaving jail, he picked up his personal effects.

If you cannot memorize all this, carry this issue of the EWA with you at all times! You never know when you will need it.

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

Words can be related in origin and meaning, and they can even look alike on the page and sound alike when read aloud, yet have very different meanings. They’re called homonyms.:

Ensure means to make more certain or to help in an outcome. For example, “The structure ensures many years of use.” Insure refers to a contract in place and pay-offs in case of non-performance; it implies a warranty. (Be careful not to confuse these two words or you may be unwittingly implying a legal obligation when you do not wish to.) Assure has a similar meaning as the other two words, meaning to give confidence. It implies actions that could later be given a legal context. Today we often see assure used as a noun. “Before she began the job, she was given certain assurances which failed to materialize.”We office in a cubicle. When we want to describe a blocky sculpture, we might call it cubical.

Ambiguous and its cousin ambiguity refer to “having more than one meaning, open to different interpretations.” It often refers to an unexplained or unexplainable mystery. Ambivalent means “having mixed feelings” about something, for example, a love/hate relationship or, to dress up the language, having attraction-repulsion emotions. One way to think about it: An artist with ambivalent feelings may create art that expresses ambiguity.

Augur and its cousin, augury both refer to a sign that foretells something, for example, an omen. An auger is a tool you use for making a hole, i.e., a bit. The words have separate entomologies.

Egotism “means ‘excessive conceit or self-absorption,’ while egoism is a less common and more technical word for an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.”

Don’t confuse loath (”reluctant, unwilling”) with loathe, “dislike greatly.” So, you can be loath to partake in something because you loathe it, but not the other way around. Of course, the words have identical entomologies.

I think many of us forget that luxuriant and luxurious are two different words. Luxuriant means “rich and profuse in growth.” Luxurious means “extravagant,” of course. So a mink coat may be luxuriant and luxurious but for two different reasons. Both words share the same entomologies: from the Latin “lux,” meaning “light,” or “to shine.”

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

I owe a debt to J.W. Burkey for sending me an article by syndicated columnist James J. Kilpatrick which gives advice on the proper placement of the word “only.” Indeed, placement of the little word can drastically alter the meaning of a sentence. I remember how I used to struggle with that! And long before that, I can remember when I never gave it a thought. So, with thanks to Mr. Kilpatrick, J.W. and his sister (who sent J.W. the article), this month I only present to you a treatise on the word “only.” Or, is it a treatise only on the word?

When push comes to shove, those with only talent for expressing themselves can survive and thrive

Those who have multiple talents don’t do as well.

When push come to shove, only those with talent for expressing themselves can survive and thrive. Read more

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

I began my career in advertising where I was paid to put a marketing spin on everything I touched. I turned it into a minor art form. Very minor! In this EWA, let’s go over various kinds of marketing-spin claims and examine how they work. As you will see, you, too, can develop a knack for making everything sound better than it is.

Today we’re going to cover parity claims, self-referential claims and superiority claims. Read more

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

This month, I shift gears and express a few words about branding, a subject close to my heart. Many years ago, I remember reading a story of a meeting between one of the earliest practitioners of public relations and his client, the president of a large steel manufacturing company. As I remember it, the story takes place in the board room with the entire board present. A terrible accident had just happened at one of the plants. The president questioned whether, in the wake of this accident, a public relations campaign was appropriate. The public relations person said, “You’re going to have public relations whether you hire me or not. The only question is whether you’ll have any control over the message.” I think it’s the same with branding.
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The term “sectarian violence” is in the news so often. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what the word “sectarian” means or what it derives from? Before all the strife in Iraq, I remember hearing the word used in the United States with a purely neutral connotation; however, the word carries a strongly negative connotation.

Both “sectarian” and “nonsectarian” share “sect” as their common root, which means, according to Webster’s Collegiate, “a dissenting or schismatic religious body, esp: one regarded as extreme or heretical.” According to Dictionary.com, the word dates from about 1300 to 1350. It comes from the Latin secta, meaning “something to follow, a pathway.” Dictionary.com confirms the word’s negative, extremist nature: “a group regarded as heretical or as deviating from a generally accepted religious tradition.”

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