Bath Salts: make you crazy - Legal

Cannabis: makes you sleepy - Illegal


Yay War on Drugs! We're winning! Just like in Afghanistan!

I think salvia should be legal but it's quite humorous that salvia is legal and mushrooms aren't. It's like they want kids to buy salvia just to have a snake infested psychedelic trainwreck go flying through their mind to scare them off from the good earthloving medicines.

Oh, just drink your Budweiser, go to work, eat at Subway, shop at Costco, vote some pigs into office and STFU. You have it so good, right? RIGHT ?!

That dude reminded me that I need to re-watch Trailer Park Boys.

Trevor, Cory, smokes, let's go.

Fuck subway and Budweiser. Oh but leave Costco alone, please. Their chicken bakes melt my heart.>> ^shagen454:

I think salvia should be legal but it's quite humorous that salvia is legal and mushrooms aren't. It's like they want kids to buy salvia just to have a snake infested psychedelic trainwreck go flying through their mind to scare them off from the good earthloving medicines.
Oh, just drink your Budweiser, go to work, eat at Subway, shop at Costco, vote some pigs into office and STFU. You have it so good, right? RIGHT ?!

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:

Bath Salts: make you crazy - Legal
Cannabis: makes you sleepy - Illegal

Yay War on Drugs! We're winning! Just like in Afghanistan!


It's not actually legal, they are in violation of the Federal Analog Act. The whole bath salts euphemism is an attempt to get away with breaking the law, but there's no real doubt they're breaking it.

But yeah, it makes all the enforcement efforts against pot seem even more ridiculous and heavy handed when untested designer drugs are an actual danger to the public.

If bath salts actually had these kinds of effects, the military would be all over this shit!

>> ^entr0py:

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:
Bath Salts: make you crazy - Legal
Cannabis: makes you sleepy - Illegal

Yay War on Drugs! We're winning! Just like in Afghanistan!

It's not actually legal, they are in violation of the Federal Analog Act. The whole bath salts euphemism is an attempt to get away with breaking the law, but there's no real doubt they're breaking it.
But yeah, it makes all the enforcement efforts against pot seem even more ridiculous and heavy handed when untested designer drugs are an actual danger to the public.


Wow...that's a pretty scary act. I just love it when the idiots in Congress try to legislate stuff that doesn't exist yet. It's guaranteed to produce a trainwreck of generalities and vagaries. I'm amazed this hasn't yet been found unconstitutional yet.

I just want to point out that the Youtube title of this video "SEE THE AFFECTS OF BATH SALTS!!!" should use the noun form of effect (with an E).

I affected the effect of this sentence.
Affect = verb
Effect = noun

Grammar nazi awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/06/03/1334230/how-chemistry-stymies-attempts-to-regulate-synthetic-drugs

There is an ever increasing crackdown on vendors of these stimulants, and an ever increasing response from the chemists by synthesizing more. One of the people who ran a website just for vendors got caught up in a sting operation, and he is one of many similar stories taking place.

http://internetchem.blogspot.com/2012/04/federal-crackdown-on-research-chemical.html

The legislation in response to this has been to basically ban "chemicals" ... and i wish i were kidding about the specificity in some of the laws... although in all cases, banning a specific one does nothing.

It's almost like you can't win a war on drugs... only a war on the people who use them... that's a fact sure to help cure the paranoia, but just in case, lets make sure people who are angry and under-medicated can get guns.


if we're the majority who is deciding our lives for us...the plot thickens*!







*just kidding its old white men and their nagging wives.

Snake infested psychedelic trainwreck is my new band name.



>> ^shagen454:

I think salvia should be legal but it's quite humorous that salvia is legal and mushrooms aren't. It's like they want kids to buy salvia just to have a snake infested psychedelic trainwreck go flying through their mind to scare them off from the good earthloving medicines.
Oh, just drink your Budweiser, go to work, eat at Subway, shop at Costco, vote some pigs into office and STFU. You have it so good, right? RIGHT ?!

Except when you effect an affect.

--Grammar Nazi Nazi>> ^JiggaJonson:

I just want to point out that the Youtube title of this video "SEE THE AFFECTS OF BATH SALTS!!!" should use the noun form of effect (with an E).
I affected the effect of this sentence.
Affect = verb
Effect = noun
Grammar nazi awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

@messenger

Incorrect, you can not "effect" anything. Again, it's a noun. Many nouns can function as verbs, 'I feel love," with love as a noun vs "I love you," with love as a verb, but in this instance there is a spelling distinction that denotes the different forms of the word.

Through the use of a be-verb, you can use the forms of the word in the way you suggest with a little rewording. It would have to say "Except when you have an effect on an affect," to be correct. The use of the to-have verb creates a situation where the words that follow will function as nouns.

See also: http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/misspelling/effect.png

Actually, according to the OED.com effect can be a verb:

a. To bring about (an event, a result); to accomplish (an intention, a desire).

e.g.: "The requirement that a life assurance contract could be effected only if an insurable (financial) interest could be proven."

Did I just out-grammar nazi you?

>> ^JiggaJonson:

@messenger
Incorrect, you can not "effect" anything. Again, it's a noun. Many nouns can function as verbs, 'I feel love," with love as a noun vs "I love you," with love as a verb, but in this instance there is a spelling distinction that denotes the different forms of the word.
Through the use of a be-verb, you can use the forms of the word in the way you suggest with a little rewording. It would have to say "Except when you have an effect on an affect," to be correct. The use of the to-have verb creates a situation where the words that follow will function as nouns.
See also: http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/misspelling/effect.png

"Effect" can be a verb: To make or bring about; to implement.
"Affect" can be a noun: (psychology) A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.

Even the image you referenced says, "Most of the time...">> ^JiggaJonson:

@messenger
Incorrect, you can not "effect" anything. Again, it's a noun. Many nouns can function as verbs, 'I feel love," with love as a noun vs "I love you," with love as a verb, but in this instance there is a spelling distinction that denotes the different forms of the word.
Through the use of a be-verb, you can use the forms of the word in the way you suggest with a little rewording. It would have to say "Except when you have an effect on an affect," to be correct. The use of the to-have verb creates a situation where the words that follow will function as nouns.
See also: http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/misspelling/effect.png

yeah it's bad shit. so is drinking antifreeze.

in the end, the only one responsible for you, is you. and our governments policy of prohibition only increases the likelihood that we continue to see these shit-ass analogues from asia.
take away coke, you get meth, take away meth, you get MDPV, and now that MDPV is illegal to import, you're already seeing MDPV analogues designed to duck the current laws. it's only a matter of time until an analogue is found that is worse than the original compound.


yes, ending prohibition will cause numerous issues which will probably take decades to sort out.
but continuing prohibition creates more problems than it solves.

@messenger that's true; what I'm speaking of is a general rule, but when you say "Except when you effect an affect," it's still being used incorrectly.

We could go back and forth about this forever since language is forever changing, but I would argue that some general rules make written communication easier and are, in turn, needed to keep the language functioning to avoid communication breakdowns in writing.

My personal effects and the effects of my person on others, effected other effects.

^confusing because it's difficult to distinguish a noun from a verb.
vs

My personal effects and the affects of my person on others, affected other effects.

^here, understanding that effect is (commonly) functioning as a noun, and affect is (commonly) functioning as a verb allows this sentence, in spite of being vague because we don't have other context, to make sense.

You made a legit correction to the YouTube title, and I added a comment that the two words can sometimes be the other form. "General rule" is what you're saying now, but that's not what you said before. You said I was wrong, and "effect" is never a verb. This isn't about language changing or a difference of opinion.

FWIW, my example sentence was a little silly since "affect" isn't in the correct lexical category (an event, a result, an intention or a desire (Thanks @hpqp)) to be an object for the verb form of "effect", and I half expected you to call me out on that point.

But maybe we do have to go back and forth a bit because your example sentences are wrong. It's not like you can choose which one to use, but it's "better" if you choose one over the other to maintain good form. If you use "effect" as a verb or "affect" as a noun they have special meanings, different from "affect" as a verb and "effect" as a noun. In your first sentence, you talk about "personal effects". This is meaningless. "Effect an effect" is possible. In your second sentence, you have all the "effect"s and "affect"s backwards. A correct sentence could be:

My personal affects (things I own) and the effects of my person on others effected (caused to happen) other affects (moods/emotions).

Even still, the latter part of the sentence is as silly as my original one since to "effect an affect" doesn't work on the lexical level, even though it's fine grammatically.

Normally I'm not so anal about people being wrong on the internet, but you've stepped into my wheelhouse. The English language, especially grammar and writing, has been my living and the major focus of my life for 12 years and I generally don't let stuff like this slide.

Also, no comma between a subject and verb.>> ^JiggaJonson:

@messenger that's true; what I'm speaking of is a general rule, but when you say "Except when you effect an affect," it's still being used incorrectly.
We could go back and forth about this forever since language is forever changing, but I would argue that some general rules make written communication easier and are, in turn, needed to keep the language functioning to avoid communication breakdowns in writing.
My personal effects and the effects of my person on others, effected other effects.
^confusing because it's difficult to distinguish a noun from a verb.
vs
My personal effects and the affects of my person on others, affected other effects.
^here, understanding that effect is (commonly) functioning as a noun, and affect is (commonly) functioning as a verb allows this sentence, in spite of being vague because we don't have other context, to make sense.

@messenger

"You said I was wrong, and "effect" is never a verb."
-
I said you were wrong, I never said that it's "never used as a verb." You've quoted most (all?) of my posts so we can be relatively certain they are not edited.
--------------------
--------------------
"you talk about "personal effects". This is meaningless."
-
You sure about that?
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/personal+effects
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personal%20effects
http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/personal-effects/
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0501130430
For someone with English as THE major focus of their life for the past 12 years, I'm very surprised you have never heard of the phrase "personal effects."
-
*increases bullshit radar's maximum power*
So, you're telling me that the focus of your life has revolved around the English language and the phrase "personal effects" is meaningless?
*bullshit radar bursts into flames*
kay...
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--------------------
In your second sentence, you have all the "effect"s and "affect"s backwards. A correct sentence could be:
My personal affects (things I own) and the effects of my person on others effected (caused to happen) other affects (moods/emotions).
-
Negative; the sentence isn't all backwards.

My personal effects (noun, see definitions' links above) and the effects of my person (noun, I did get this wrong in the original) on others affected (verb form, the definition for the noun form doesn't make sense in this context [not at all]) other effects (in this case, I suppose you could possibly use affect as a noun, but its use in the language is arguably near extinction today).
--------------------
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Also, no comma between a subject and verb.
-
What is this^ in reference to?
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Finally, you still seem confused on which word to use. We can't have someone's life's work done poorly now can we? I recommend you practice which word to use by reading up on the subject at the Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/660/01/
-
After studying, you can test your affectiveness effectiveness (see what I did there?) at their use by trying the sample exercises provided by the same site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/4/24/42/
-
Here are some other sources that may help you better understand your own life's work:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/affect-versus-effect.aspx
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/english/2005/08/effect_as_a_ver.html
http://www.esm.ucsb.edu/academics/documents/grammar_style.pdf
http://www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tipsep99a.htm
http://prpost.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/raven-remember-affect-is-a-verb-and-effect-is-a-noun-usually/
http://imgi.uibk.ac.at/mmetgroup/MMet_imgi/tools/mayfield/affect.htm<-- the most precise and concise source I could find
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p.s.
Does anal retentive have a hyphen in it?

@JiggaJonson

Oh, that horrible crushing balled-up stomach feeling you get when you double-down, drop that almighty trump, the Expert Card, and then you make a mistake. Ugh.

You're right: "personal effects" was correct and "personal affects" means little. Don't know where my brain was.

I can at least reclaim a mote of dignity:
I never said that it's "never used as a verb."

You didn't use those words, but you did say:
Incorrect, you can not "effect" anything. Again, it's a noun. (and "cannot" is one word)

And that amounts to the same thing. It cannot be a verb if it's a noun, and you certainly can "effect" something.

The "comma" comment was about the comma between "others" and "effected": My personal effects and the effects of my person on others, effected other effects.

Hyphenation in English has quite a lot of variability, and there are no hard and fast (hard-and-fast?) rules governing how to write all compound words. A single compound word, even could have two different correct ways of writing it, in which case, only consistency counts. "Anal retentive" is one of the words that has no permanent form, and in fact might change from one sentence to another. For example, if it's used attributively (before the noun it modifies), you should probably hyphenate it ("I have an anal-retentive boss"), but if it's used predicatively (after a verb, modifying the subject), you might not hyphenate it ("My boss is anal retentive."), though "anally retentive" is probably a better choice there. In fact, if you're a real anal retainer about hyphenation, you can choose always to use "anally retentive" which is never hyphenated, or just "anal".