In Valin’s novel, Final Notice, the descriptive frame of reference for the simile is a tattoo.
A variation: “As water rolling off a duck’s back.”
Affect /ə'fekt/ is a verb. To affect someone or something means to cause them to change, often in a negative way.
Effect /ɪ'fekt/ is usually a noun. An effect is something that happens or exists because something else has happened.
You can say that something has a particular effect on something else.
Effect is sometimes a verb. If you effect something that you are trying to achieve, you succeed in achieving it. This is a formal use.
A result of something is an event or situation that happens or exists because of it.
When something produces a change in a thing or person, don't refer to this change as a 'result' on the thing or person. The word you use is effect.
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Noun | 1. | ![]() phenomenon - any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning offspring, materialisation, materialization - something that comes into existence as a result; "industrialism prepared the way for acceptance of the French Revolution's various socialistic offspring"; "this skyscraper is the solid materialization of his efforts" aftereffect - any result that follows its cause after an interval aftermath, wake, backwash - the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event); "the aftermath of war"; "in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured" bandwagon effect - the phenomenon of a popular trend attracting even greater popularity; "in periods of high merger activity there is a bandwagon effect with more and more firms seeking to engage in takeover activity"; "polls are accused of creating a bandwagon effect to benefit their candidate" brisance - the shattering or crushing effect of a sudden release of energy as in an explosion butterfly effect - the phenomenon whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere, e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings in Rio de Janeiro might change the weather in Chicago byproduct, by-product - a secondary and sometimes unexpected consequence change - the result of alteration or modification; "there were marked changes in the lining of the lungs"; "there had been no change in the mountains" coattails effect - (politics) the consequence of one popular candidate in an election drawing votes for other members of the same political party; "he counted on the coattails effect to win him the election" Coriolis effect - (physics) an effect whereby a body moving in a rotating frame of reference experiences the Coriolis force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation; on Earth the Coriolis effect deflects moving bodies to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere dent - an appreciable consequence (especially a lessening); "it made a dent in my bank account" domino effect - the consequence of one event setting off a chain of similar events (like a falling domino causing a whole row of upended dominos to fall) harvest - the consequence of an effort or activity; "they gathered a harvest of examples"; "a harvest of love" wallop, impact - a forceful consequence; a strong effect; "the book had an important impact on my thinking"; "the book packs a wallop" influence - the effect of one thing (or person) on another; "the influence of mechanical action" knock-on effect - a secondary or incidental effect product - a consequence of someone's efforts or of a particular set of circumstances; "skill is the product of hours of practice"; "his reaction was the product of hunger and fatigue" placebo effect - any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do; pharmacologists were the first to talk about placebo effects but now the idea has been generalized to many situations having nothing to do with drugs position effect - (genetics) the effect on the expression of a gene that is produced by changing its location in a chromosome repercussion, reverberation - a remote or indirect consequence of some action; "his declaration had unforeseen repercussions"; "reverberations of the market crash were felt years later" response - a result; "this situation developed in response to events in Africa" fallout, side effect - any adverse and unwanted secondary effect; "a strategy to contain the fallout from the accounting scandal" spillover - (economics) any indirect effect of public expenditure |
2. | effect - an outward appearance; "he made a good impression"; "I wanted to create an impression of success"; "she retained that bold effect in her reproductions of the original painting" appearance, visual aspect - outward or visible aspect of a person or thing figure - the impression produced by a person; "he cut a fine figure"; "a heroic figure" image - the general impression that something (a person or organization or product) presents to the public; "although her popular image was contrived it served to inspire music and pageantry"; "the company tried to project an altruistic image" mark - the impression created by doing something unusual or extraordinary that people notice and remember; "it was in London that he made his mark"; "he left an indelible mark on the American theater" tout ensemble - a total impression or effect of something made up of individual parts | |
3. | effect - an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived); "he just did it for effect" impression, notion, belief, feeling, opinion - a vague idea in which some confidence is placed; "his impression of her was favorable"; "what are your feelings about the crisis?"; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying" sound effect - an effect that imitates a sound called for in the script of a play special effect - an effect used to produce scenes that cannot be achieved by normal techniques (especially on film) | |
4. | effect - the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work meaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous" | |
5. | effect - (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect" law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" | |
6. | effect - a symptom caused by an illness or a drug; "the effects of sleep loss"; "the effect of the anesthetic" symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease aftereffect - a delayed effect of a drug or therapy; "the drug had unexpected aftereffects" bummer - a bad reaction to a hallucinogenic drug side effect - a secondary and usually adverse effect of a drug or therapy; "severe headaches are one of the side effects of the drug" | |
Verb | 1. | effect - produce; "The scientists set up a shock wave" accomplish, carry out, carry through, fulfil, fulfill, action, execute - put in effect; "carry out a task"; "execute the decision of the people"; "He actioned the operation" precipitate - bring about abruptly; "The crisis precipitated by Russia's revolution" induce, hasten, stimulate, rush - cause to occur rapidly; "the infection precipitated a high fever and allergic reactions" cause, do, make - give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" serve - contribute or conduce to; "The scandal served to increase his popularity" |
2. | effect - act so as to bring into existence; "effect a change" act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" bring to bear - bring into operation or effect; "The new members brought to bear new concerns to the U.N." carry - extend to a certain degree; "carry too far"; "She carries her ideas to the extreme" backdate - make effective from an earlier date; "The increase in tax was backdated to January" |