Date:    Fri, 10 Apr 1998 11:58:30 -0400
<br>From:    Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: impactful
<br>
<br>At 11:13 AM 4/10/98 +0000, Jim Rader jrader[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]m-w.com wrote:
<br>>There is an entry for _impactful_ in W3; our first cite for the word
<br>>is from Martha Wolfenstein and Nathan Leites, _Movies: A
<br>>Psychological Study_ (The Free Press, 1950)
<br>
<br>Yes, I don't have W3 with me here -- and obviously I've been indulging in a
<br>limited array of reading material all these years, since I haven't bumped
<br>into "impactful" anywhere before.
<br>
<br>I imagine that when items like impact-and-derivatives come to be seen as
<br>trendy in some areas in the culture, other *rival* areas of the culture tend
<br>to assert their independence by embargoing or stigmatizing them. The fact
<br>that some areas of the culture refuse to use "impact" as a verb (let alone
<br>the less common derivatives from "impact") makes it possible to read pretty
<br>heavily in (e.g.) cultural journalism or academic writing in the humanities
<br>and never encounter them anywhere.
<br>
<br>Thanks for all the citations you provided (and thanks also to a couple of
<br>folks who replied offlist).
<br>
<br>
<br>>Much of the evidence for _impactful_ is from business, advertising,
<br>>and marketing publications...
<br>>
<br>
<br>which authors and editors in the areas mentioned just above tend to look
<br>down on, in general as well as in terms of linguistic usage....
<br>
<br>>Whatever one thinks of it, _impactful_ is well-embedded in American
<br>>English.
<br>>
<br>
<br>Am I getting the correct impression, that all or almost all the citations
<br>are from US usage? Is this cluster of impact-derived words encountering
<br>resistance in Commonwealth countries? Or is it that are they just being
<br>innovated in US English, and spreading over time to other anglophone countries?
<br>
<br>Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu
<br>