Monday Muddle: affect, effect

By far the most common uses of affect and effect are affect as a verb and effect as a noun. The memory trick I use to help keep them straight is that affect is an action and starts with A. A is for action. Effect is a consequence or end result. E is for end. And if you have trouble remembering which is which, I would recommend trying to avoid the less common versions.

Monday Muddle affect: (verb) to alter; to change; to make a difference to; to sway the emotions of; (noun) facial expressions, gestures, vocal sounds that display emotion, often insincerely effect: (noun) end result; consequence; change resulting from an action or other cause; used in the term "special effects": (verb) to cause something to happen; usually used in the expression "to effect change"

Monday Muddle: uncharted, unchartered

Monday Muddle: uncharted: (adjective) describes a physical area that has not had a map or survey done of it; used figuratively to talk of areas that are new to the person navigating them Used in the expression uncharted territory. unchartered: (adjective)(uncommon, at least in its correct sense) describes an organization that does not have a charter or written constitution Not used in the expression uncharted territory.

Chartered (adjective) can mean to have a charter or constitution, but it can also be used to describe a vehicle that has been rented, usually with the driver, for private tours.

The other day a friend asked me how long Gilligan’s trip was supposed to be. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s okay; it just means you are young. (But if you ever need the answer for a trivia competition, it was a three hour tour.) Gilligan was working on a boat that was chartered. They may have ended up in uncharted waters, but because they were there, they were not unchartered waters.

Monday Muddle: worse, worst, wurst

A comparative adjective (worse) is used when you are comparing two things. A superlative adjective is used when you are comparing three or more things. Unless you are comparing sausage, and then you may need to use “wurst”.

Monday Muddle: worse: (adjective) of lower quality; more serious; more severe; not as good; (adverb) more seriously; more severely; less satisfactorily; (noun) a more serious or more severe situation worst: (adverb) the most seriously; the most severely; the least satisfactorily; (noun) the most serious, severe, or unsatisfactory wurst: (noun) sausage from Germany or Austria

Monday Muddle: stalk, stock

A couple important points to remember:

You probably wouldn’t stalk shelves.

A laughing stalk is probably some kind of character in an animated feature. A laughingstock is a person, or thing, that is being ridiculed or mocked.

Monday Muddle: stalk: (noun) the stem of a plant; a similar supporting structure on other objects; (verb) to pursue persistently, often with the intention to harass or harm stock: (noun) goods or inventory kept available for sale or use; (finance) shares of a company; (culinary) the base of a soup, sauce or stew; (verb) to keep a supply of items to have on hand or make available for sale (e.g. to stock shelves in a store)