You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

The things you learn on the Colbert Report. I would never have known, until watching last night's "The Word," that John McCain keeps using the word "transcendental" in a really weird way. To wit:

"I believe we are facing the transcendental challenge of the century of radical Islamic terrorism." (johnmccain.com)

I am pretty sure McCain is not proposing yogic flying or a devotion to the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson as key elements of the radical Islamic terrorist challenge. He, or someone on his staff, is dealing a few tarot cards short of a full deck, because what McCain really means is something more like "surpassing" or "overarching." Or maybe "existential?"

Lieberman endorses McCain; McCain uses awful new word

"I was a little reluctant to ask him, because I didn't want him to do something that may cause any harm to his political future," McCain told reporters in Concord. "I felt it would be impactful in the election otherwise I wouldn't ask for it." (NBC First Read)

Ugh, impactful? That is even worse than the use of "impact" as a verb. Please do not use this word, English speakers.

Grammar police on patrol

Apologies, but I have another one to add to the list of "grammar and usage errors that really get my goat." It is the confusion of the words tact and tack. For example,

"I think that the tact [sic, emphasis mine] that the Senate is going to take is..." --Jim Sims, Executive Vice President, Partnership for the West, on the Kojo Nnamdi Show this morning

Let's get one thing straight:

tact n. 1: Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.

tack n. 1: The heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails. 2: A method used in dealing with something.

The use of "impact" as a verb

As of today I think that this will join my list of "usage errors that really get my goat." Already on the list:

1. Improper use of the subjunctive mood. I.e., "if I was a rich man" rather than the correct "if I were a rich man."

2. Apostrophe used to pluralize a noun. ("Melon's for sale"). I think that this is really a Southern thing, as I have never seen it above the Rude-Stupid Line*. Similar to this is the inappropriate use of quotation marks, often to add emphasis. For example, a sign seen at my local grocery store in Tennessee once: "FRESH" fish.

Turning back to impact: The use of this word as a verb, as in "power plant pollution disproportionately impacts West Virginians," is a crucial component of advocacy-speak, and you will see it a lot in fact sheets and reports. However, something about this use jars my internal grammatical compass. Let's see what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say. . .

Rats. It is a verb in that type of context. What good is this internal compass anyway? But wait...usage problem, notes American Heritage.

"The use of impact as a verb meaning 'to have an effect' often has a big impact on readers." Hee hee, dictionary-writer humor.

"Eighty-four percent of the Usage Panel disapproves of the construction to impact on. . .; fully 95 percent disapproves of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence Companies have used disposable techniques that have a potential for impacting our health. It is unclear why this usage provokes such a strong response. . .it may be that its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts continues to make people suspicious."

As well they should be.

*Rude-Stupid Line: More commonly known as "Mason-Dixon Line." Everybody below it thinks everybody above it is rude, and everybody above it thinks everybody below it is stupid.