´óÏó´«Ã½

Why do people say 'Absolutely' when they should say definately ?

Can I post a comment? have a test..

'Why do people say 'Absolutely' when they should say definately ?'

I think this is American English.

I was interested in the feedback from listeners about use of English by the ´óÏó´«Ã½, especially the listener from the Netherlands who questioned the creation of verbs from nouns. I was also interested in the comments about the pervasiveness of 'American English' where the creation of verbs from nouns is commonplace. I have got up in the early hours to give vent to my pet hate - the use of the verb 'impact' when the verb 'affect' would be far more appropriate.

This example is less clear cut than those given on your program, in that 'to impact' is a perfectly good verb. However, it means to hit or to strike or derivations of that meaning. It does not mean to affect. However, the noun 'impact' can indeed mean 'effect'. Notice the important difference between 'affect', (a verb) and 'effect' (a noun).

´óÏó´«Ã½ presenters seem to have become confused about this, no doubt influenced by their American counterparts. They use 'impact' as a verb when it would be far more appropriate to use the less clumsy verb 'affect'. The vast majority of times that 'impact' is used (eg in News bulletins), 'affect' would be far more appropriate. eg 'The unnamed soldier was killed by a roadside bomb. This has deeply impacted his loved ones'. {That is another pet hate of mine - how can the reporter be sure that the individual in question loved all of his relations?}. Surely his death has deeply affected his friends and relations'

Perhaps the most absurd use of the 'impact' verb was by a Texan crane owner interviewed on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Today programme several months ago. One of his cranes had collapsed, killing some and injuring many more of his employees. He said his thoughts were with those who had 'been impacted' by the incident! His thoughts were actually withe those who had been affected by the impact.

I suspect that 'impact' is preferred as a verb because of the confusion between 'affect' (a verb) and 'effect' (a noun). If you are not sure which is which, then 'impact becomes attractive'.

Please suggest to all your presenters that they consider, when they use 'impact' as a verb, whether the more appropriate 'affect'could be substituted?

I feel that the standard of English is deteriorating on the ´óÏó´«Ã½. Frequently we hear the term 'bored of' instead of the correct 'bored with' and a number of other instances where the word 'of' is used in place of 'with'. Does no-one care at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ anymore that a large number of people listening to the broadcasts assume that ´óÏó´«Ã½ usage is correct usage?

I listen to the world service in the night, so you may imagine my surprise this morning before 5am when we got a number of items in Swahilli, when actually the 5am News should have been broadcast in English. No explanation was forthcoming, and eventually a switch must have been thrown and we were catapulted back into English. What had really happened?

i prayed for alan johnston and was ecstatic that he was released and now i really enjoy listening to him on f.o.o.c. however - has anyone really listened to how mr johnston speaks? he has beautiful mellow tones and enunciates like a musician, speaking without breathing over quite long phrases; but then he spoils the flowing efect by making a rather loud gasp as he sucks in air to deal with the next sentence. surely you must have voice coaches who can deal with such phenomena? i find myself holding my own breath waiting for the sharp intake of air whenever i listen to him speak, so could someone have a word?

That is good news for the return of Over To You

=Dennis Junior=

i have two comments.

1. why are ordinary Africans not given the chance to contribute live on your program "world have say" except for those closely related to the issue, like presidents or other stakeholders?

2. why do you always allowed participants from outside Africa to dominate programs that are of African concern on your program "Africa have your say"?

I was impressed with the podcast this morning (August 25, 2009) about the previous US administration's direct responsibility in propelling the war on terror and past torture atrocities in the interview with Michael Scheuer (a previous director in the CIA). However, I am unimpressed with the unavailability of being able to share this podcast with others. CNN did a pretty good hack job of censoring anything newsworthy of this interview. I hope that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ would not be strong armed into making the un-censored interview available to the public. Can you please direct me to a navigable site that I can post links for others to review it? Thank you for continuing to ask the tough questions and post the truth in the spirit of Edward R. Murrow.