Effect an Effect
Effect an Effect
My Hobby: Using the more obscure meanings of "affect" and "effect" to try to trip up amateur grammar Nazis. Cueball: I think that our foreign policy effects the situation. Computer: You mean "affects." Cueball: tee hee hee

"Affect" and "effect" can each both be a noun and a verb, share the sense of influence , and they are often confused with each other. (See the usage note under "Affect.")
In careful speech, both words (as verbs) are similar but not identical. "Affect" is /əˈfɛkt/ (or uh- fekt ) and "effect" is /ɪˈfɛkt/ (or ih- fekt ). However, for some people, these words are homophones — it's also explained here: homophones affect vs effect .
"Effect" is usually a noun, meaning a result , and "affect" usually a verb, meaning to act upon . "Effect" as a verb has the slightly different meaning to bring about . Cueball says that the foreign policy causes the situation, not, as the "grammar nazi" thinks, that it changes the situation.
The title of the comic translates to cause or bring about a result , which is just what Cueball does! It can also be seen as a play on words, being similar to the phrase "cause and effect."
The title text refers to the Victory marking practice common among fighter pilots in a war zone. Fighter pilots who score a "kill" on an opposing aircraft will have a silhouette of the downed plane painted on the side of their plane as a way of keeping track of kills. In this sense, Cueball "shot down," figuratively speaking, an online (grammar) nazi, and would mark it by painting a silhouette on the side of his computer.
See also 1429: Data .
My Hobby: Using the more obscure meanings of "affect" and "effect" to try to trip up amateur grammar Nazis. Cueball: I think that our foreign policy effects the situation. Computer: You mean "affects." Cueball: tee hee hee
