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Hello!
Is there any difference between inflict and afflict?
Please help me!
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Carpal Tunnel
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A bad man can inflict injuries on other men. The men so afflicted can seek legal redress. I don't remember the grammatical terms for the difference.
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I don't remember the grammatical terms for the difference.
Ah... lemme guess. Different?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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OK, CK, smartypants. At half my age, you ought to remember. I cannot ordinarily afflict anything, though I can hear you saying that I afflict the board with a lot of nonsense.
I omitted greeting soojin to permit you the pleasure of first welcoming him to the board.
Dear Soojin, we welcome you, the more so that you have asked a good question.
There are other verbs with similar subtle differences. Take the pair "imply" and "infer". I have implied that Capital Kiwi should remember grammar better than I do. You may infer from this that I am admitting I am mildly senile. I am unable to deny it.
Dear CK: may I playfully challenge you to supply another such pair of verbs?
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dr. bill, may I affectionately ask whether that challenge is open to others?
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member
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When entering the 5th grade science fair I called an English teacher to ask which was right...
How does moisture affect clay ceramics? Or How does moisture effect clay ceramics?
She must have gotten it right because I remember I got third place.
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It seems likely that soojin would be interested in such pairs of words, all welcome to participate.
Affect implies that a change is made. Effect means to take required action to produce a desired change.
Rarely affect is a technical term in psychiatry referring to the emotions displayed by a patient.
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And of course effect can be (and often is) used as a noun.
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addict
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difference between inflict and afflict?
WELCOME  to you soojin! Um, well... the simple answer based on the dictionary definitions is: no, there is little or no difference:
in·flict Pronunciation Key (n-flkt)
tr.v. in·flict·ed, in·flict·ing, in·flicts
1. To deal or mete out (something punishing or burdensome); impose: inflicted heavy losses on the enemy; a storm that inflicted widespread damage.
2. To afflict.
af·flict Pronunciation Key (-flkt)
tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts
To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on
Both definitions from http://www.dictionary.com.
Am guessing this is just a personal preference thing? I'd probably tend towards using inflict for something someone does to someone else eg. "Is wwh trying to inflict his sense of humour on us?" and afflicted as something which has happened eg. "I am afflicted with an addiction to AWAD" .. not sure if that makes sense  but it does to me!
Hev
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Dear hev: with all respect, may I politely disagree with you. I would never say: "I will afflict punishment on you." I may be afflicted with a petty preference in this regard. 84 y.o. curmudgeon ending rant.
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Max says:
"I am afflicted with punishment"
Nah, TEd hasn't been around in awhile
"I will inflict punishment upon you"
Well, I'd never say that about your puns, Max, but if you insist...
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Dear MaxQ: what I was taking acception to was this:
." the simple answer based on the dictionary definitions is: no, there is little or no difference:"
Dear MaxQ: would you be so cruel as to "afflict" punishment on me? You might wish evil chance would do so. I think there is difference enough to be worth commenting upon.
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Dear MaxQ: F-word the dictionaries. They are cramped for space, and do not pretend to be arbiters of fine shades of meaning. The difference seems to be that humans can inflict, but only malign abstractions can afflict.
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old hand
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Greetings Soojin - welcome!
stales
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Thanks a lot.
I am a Korean man.
I appreciate your kindness.
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Dear soojin: I think you have the distinction of being our first participant from Korea. I hope you will make many more posts as interesting as your first. Bill Hunt
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Yes, indeed, welcome to you, soojin! Peace be with you and yours. Max, thank you for posting the roots of these two words. To strike, and to cast down. I'd been thinking that afflict implied a less deliberate act, and I suppose casting down is somewhat less sure than striking. Though both striking and casting down are deliberate acts, it seems to me that if you cast something down, you are less sure of hitting your target than if you strike at it directly. (In the case of casting down, say, a written accusation on to a table, yes, you will hit the table, but your real target is the accused person--who may get off scot-free.) If you cast seeds, some will land in the furrow, and some will not. Let me see--can I afflict someone with something? If I have a contagious illness and pass it to another, have I afflicted them? Can kidnappers afflict their victims, in that syndrome that I can't think of the name of, where the victim becomes sympathetic to his or her captor? That is, I mean afflict them with loss of self, or self-esteem?
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enthusiast
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Let me see--can I afflict someone with something? If I have a contagious illness and pass it to another, have I afflicted them?
I trust someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say you were afflicted by the illness, not the person. IOW the illness is your affliction.
I just made up that IOW. Is that a legit abbr?
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Hi, 'gator!  [blowing kiss e] "IOW"--hey, I got it! Have no idea if it's "legal". Yes, I see your point, and agree. But what if I do something deliberately to give that person the illness? Or do something that I know will cause a permanent disability? (No, I'm not planning to--just sometimes like to carry hypotheticals to the extreme!) Hmm, guess I have inflicted an injury that causes them to be afflicted, right? I was just trying to stretch for any situation where a person could afflict someone. Soojin, I think we're going to have to say that we can cause an affliction, but that we can't afflict anybody.
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journeyman
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Greetings from a very wet and windy England soojin
are you looking forward to the World Cup? ( I am )
the Duncster
the Duncster
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Affect is also used as a noun in psychology and psychiatry, where one of the key observation's in making a diagnosis is a person's affect (the first syllable is stressed and rhymes with half.) Other than that, though, affect is always a verb.
TEd
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But what if I do something deliberately to give that person the illness?
then I think you'd INFECT the person (with an affliction?)
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Pooh-Bah
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boronia, you take the very words from my mouth!
"afflict", I think, is a passive word. One says, "I am afflicted with boils." but that doesn't indicate the agent. You know not whence cometh the boils.
"Inflict", on the other hand, is active, and I can say, "You inflicted me with boils," which pins down the agent precisely.
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>what I was taking acception to was this
um... Bill? <nudge>
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Pooh-Bah
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Come now, tsuwm - there are occasions when we have to make exceptions, you know!
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Inflict vs. afflict: Perhaps the following will serve as a mnemonic:
You will read in Professor Schmunk's treatise,
In the words of the famed Epictetus,
The curious lore
That young girls by the score
Are afflicted with athlete's foetus.
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The two words have very similar meanings, and in theory you could use either without losing any quality of meaning. However, usage dictates, for as long as we choose to let it, that you don't afflict things on people, you inflict them.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Greetings, soojin! And thanks for introducing this intriguing thread! Stick around! So, we can inflict an affliction, but can we afflict an infliction?
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Dear WO'N: "but can we afflict an infliction? "
The usage seems to be that people to not "afflict" things. The devil can do both.
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Dear wwh, whitmanO'Neil, Capital Kiwi,....
Thank you very much.
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