Based on the definition of "affectation," which refers to pretense, I believe in this case that the reviewer is correct. The usage seems to suggest feigning knowledge, and "affect" would convey that better than "effect." JAC >>> [log in to unmask] 2/23/2005 1:52:05 PM >>> Apologies for cross-posting. This might sound like a bizarre question, but I'm trying to establish the correct form of a quotation from the screenplay of 'The Big Sleep': specifically the line in which Dorothy Malone describes the organised crime boss whose front is an antique shop as someone '...who effects a knowledge of antiques but hasn't any.' Question: should it be 'effect' or 'affect'? I always thought the former, i.e. 'effect' as a verb meaning (to quote the Chambers Dictionary definition) to accomplish or bring something about. I'm using this quotation in a book which is now in the final editing stage. Not only have I used the quotation, but in the title of a chapter as well - so needless to say, I'd like to get it right! One of the external readers has corrected the verb to 'affects'. To my mind this seems wrong: 'affect' means to change something which already exists, whereas the verb in this quote is being used to describe the creation of an effect which did not previously exist (and, subtly, to point out that the resulting effect [noun] is a false and misleading one). I know that this sounds like a terribly niggly little point, but can anyone settle this definitively? I'd hate to have to change the title of my chapter this late in the day! Many thanks in advance Leo Leo Enticknap Northern Region Film & Television Archive Middlesbrough, UK www.nrfta.org.uk ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html