Wrong use of the word "Impact"

During many of the meetings at various Toastmasters' Clubs in Singapore, I often heard speakers using the word "impactful". There is no word of "impactful" in the English dictionary. It should be "full of impact". Instead of saying, "His life was impactful" say "His life was full of impact" or "His life made a strong impact on those who knew him".

It is difficult to comprehend why the person who writes is a writer; the person who teaches is a teacher but the person who cooks is not a cooker! Or why do we have the words "counsellor with counsellee"; "employer with employee" but not "professor with professee"! Or we have the words "thought with thoughtful" but not "impact with impactful" ! Such is the uniqueness and could I humbly add, idiosyncracy of the English Language! Nevertheless, it is this idiosyncracy that makes the mastery of the language so challenging! Hence, we could not really blame Professor Higgins in the movie "My Fair Lady" for pulling his hairs when he asked, "Oh! Why can' the English teach their children to speak" and to warn us about murdering the English tongue!

One of the things I love about being a toastmaster is that I am constantly learning. Yes, though I may have a B.A. in English and a Dip. Ed. in English Literature, there is still so much to learn for English is such a rich and beautiful language. Just take the simple word of "eye". Used differently, the meaning has so many connotations. For eg.

1. Being the youngest son, John is the apple of his parents' eyes.
2. My uncle has an eye for details. He is a good auditor!
3. An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth!
4. What an eye-catching lady!
5. At the party, the amorous Mr. Tan tried to make eyes
with the most beautiful lady - Angelina Wong!

I really hope more of my readers and friends will take the opportunity to join a toastmaster's club and enjoy the same journey of learning! As the Chinese like to say, "Huo dao lao; hsueh dao lao". We learn as we grow old. Constant learning - an antidote for Alzheimer's disease.!

Gan Chau