A Word For Wisdom

I used to go on and on about those business twinkies who were so panicked by their word processors commanding them to avoid speaking in the passive voice. I used to despair when they wanted to impact me with their active voices. When a credit union rep gave a presentation at a company I used to work for, she said, "Unlike most banks, we don't fee our customers for that." I didn't sign up for that reason alone.

But then I read an interview with some Washington, D.C., mover and shaker. She told the (clearly much younger) interviewer that when she welcomes a new woman into her social circle: "Well, first we recept her . . ."

Interviewer, interrupting, aghast: "OMG! You can't be serious. Is recept really a verb now?"

Since it was a print article, I'm just imagining the disdainful sniff and look down said nose. Anyway, our matron sez, "Honey, when I was your age, party wasn't a verb."

So, I surrendered from my absolutist stance. Especially as it occurs to me that a pretty good case could be made that just about any powerful verb came from a noun at some point in the murky past. I mean, I have already despaired.

And a smart former office mate of mine, TimO, used to deflate every language rant that I started on with, "Brendan, it's a living language."

And I gotta admit. I love to harsh on your mellow and hate on your president.

But please, choose "affect," "influence," "transform," "impress," "sway," "dazzle," "excite," or any of a myriad of other perfectly good words, and leave "impact" for a sentence with some teeth in it.

Word.