I think "impact" as a verb tends to be lazy (and aggravates "our sad want of signs for shades and degrees" to quote Henry James's lament [!]) -- "affect" (which is fine with me), "derail," "disturb," all depending on context.
Refute for rebut is awful in our political and critical discourse. When a newspaper tells me that Romney has refuted a charge made by Obama, and he hasn't, well that's a serious derogation of duty towards clarity and truth.
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Date: 2012-10-31 01:14 pm (UTC)Refute for rebut is awful in our political and critical discourse. When a newspaper tells me that Romney has refuted a charge made by Obama, and he hasn't, well that's a serious derogation of duty towards clarity and truth.