Dec 12, 2007

Astrue As Stickler

These copies of e-mail traffic came in over the transom. I cannot completely vouch for them, but they appear to be genuine:
From: xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 4:57 PM
To: #DCS Front Office Management; #DCS AC Admin Staffs
Cc: #DCS Executive Officers
Subject: FW: Use of "Impact" as a verb
Importance: High

Please share with appropriate staff.

______________________________________________
From: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:05 PM
To: #DCHR Exec Officers; #DCHR FO All; #DCHR ESS All
Cc: #DCHR Exec Staff; ^DCHR Controls
Subject: FW: Use of "Impact" as a verb
Importance: High

To Executive Officers: Please ensure that the below preference is
shared with analysts in your component. Thanks!

______________________________________________
From: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:21 AM
To: xxxxxxxx; ^DCBFM Controls; xxxxxxxx;
xxxxxxxx; ^DCHR Controls; xxxxxxxx; ^DCLCA Controls

Cc: xxxxxxxxx
Subject: FW: Use of "Impact" as a verb
Importance: High

Please see xxxxx's email below regarding the Commissioner's preference
and pass this on to your components. The Commissioner does not accept
usage of the word "impact" as a verb regarding people. Please do not
forward correspondence to OC for his signature used in that manner. I'm
attaching some recent examples.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks.

xxxxxxxxx
Senior Executive Analyst
Office of the Commissioner
Office of Executive Operations
______________________________________________
From: xxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:53 AM
To: #HQ OC OEO Analysts
Subject: Use of "Impact" as a verb

Commissioner Astrue has indicated on several occasions that the word
"impact" should not appear in SSA correspondence as a verb.
Unfortunately it keeps coming up in letters for his signature. Please
share with your components that they should not use it as a verb and
that if they substitute affect/effect. Affect is a verb and effect is a
noun.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are people at SSA sending e-mail that first need to learn what is a verb.

Anonymous said...

Actually, "what" is not a verb. "is" is a verb, but there is some confusion over what the meaning of "is" is.

Anonymous said...

Dear Commissioner Astrue,
Thank you ! You impact our education and effect our lives for the better. The affect you have had on SSA will be felt for years to come.

Anonymous said...

It's nice to know that the Comissioner is focusing his limited time and attention on really important things.

Anonymous said...

FROM DICTIONARY.COM Usage Note: The use of impact as a verb meaning "to have an effect" often has a big impact on readers. In our 2001 survey, 85 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of the construction to impact on, as in the sentence These policies are impacting on our ability to achieve success; fully 80 percent disapproved of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence The court ruling will impact the education of minority students. · It is unclear why this usage provokes such a strong response, but it cannot be because of novelty. Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant "to fix or pack in," and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935. It may be that its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts continues to make people suspicious. Nevertheless, the verbal use of impact has become so common in the working language of corporations and institutions that many speakers have begun to regard it as standard. It seems likely, then, that the verb will eventually become as unobjectionable as contact is now, since it will no longer betray any particular pretentiousness on the part of those who use it.