Tell Me it Ain’t So!

The affect/effect solecism is so old I figured everyone knew not to make it by now. Affect is (usually) a verb that means “to change, to influence.” Effect is (usually) a noun that means “a result”; when it’s a verb, as used here, it means “to cause.”

I was surprised to find this over a recent Daily Galaxy report quoting NASA. The folks who wrote this headline are professionals. This has to be a typo that the editor missed.

NASA: “Contrary to Reports, Cassini Saturn Mission Not Effected By Theorized Planet 9 Gravitation”

Gravity (in this case, Planet 9’s) affects things, it doesn’t cause them. Shame on somebody!

Here’s an artist’s conception of planet 9, copied from the article. I don’t know where they got it. I hope it favorably affects the visual interest of this post. The hypothetical lightning in the picture has a nice effect, don’t you think?