“effort”

effort
(EF furt)

“The effort, Brodie! The effort was too little!” -Shannen Doherty (Renee) in “Mallrats”

Ever notice how, when people want to sound smarter, they use bigger words, or at least longer ones? Why say “walked” when you can say “strode”? Why say “start” when you can say “commence”? Why say “try” when you can say “effort”?

You’ve heard it. It’s been said to you. “Let’s effort that right away.” “Effort that answer for me.” Whose bright idea was this? Which corporate suit can we go back in time and give a nice talking-to (or a kick to the posterior) before “effort” becomes a verb? Dictionary.com doesn’t have a definition for “effort” in that part of speech, and they search several sources for most words.

Seriously. Would it be so bad to say “can you try to get that answer for me?” How about “try to finish this project by close of business”? Effort is just another word corporations and the managers in them use to sound smarter and more active than they really are.

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