Take effect

Take effect

There were a lot of hard words in this episode—obstacle, renounce, imperial ambition, responsiveness. So if you had trouble following the words, go back and read them at PlainEnglish.com/96, especially with the translations. But I actually had a hard time picking an expression. I think on Thursday I half-promised a phrasal verb, but in all those 700-plus words I just read, I didn’t see a single phrasal verb worth mentioning. So I’m going to ask for a rain check on the phrasal verb: I’ll get you one on Thursday. The phrase I picked today is “take effect.”

Japan’s current constitution took effect after World War II. That means it began to apply, or it officially began, or officially became valid, it became the law after World War II. To come into effect means, usually a policy or a document, comes into force, is official. You usually use this when a policy or a document is written beforehand, but it doesn’t apply, it doesn’t officially begin, until later.

Here’s a great example. The new agreement that replaces NAFTA—the USMCA, as it’s called—that has been drafted already. There is text. It’s going to the US Congress, the Canadian parliament, and the Mexican Congress for approval. It’s written. We know what it says. But it’s not the law in our three countries yet. Even when the countries pass the law, at the last minute, the last moment when the final vote is taken—even then it still won’t take effect. That’s because they’re going to eventually pick a day (one specific date) when the old NAFTA is gone and the new USMCA officially begins, officially takes effect. The Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said that the USMCA may take effect in the second half of 2019, even if it gets all the necessary approvals beforehand.

Take effect usually applies to laws, contracts, agreements of some sort. It used to be here in the US that if you bought something online, you didn’t have to pay sales tax on it. Now, most states are charging sales tax on things you buy online. In three states—Hawaii, Tennessee, and Vermont—the new sales taxes took effect in July. The sales tax in Mississippi took effect the next month. Then on October 1, online sales taxes in ten states took effect, including my own state of Illinois—ouch! So in each case, the law was drafted, debated, and passed some time earlier. But the law had a specific date on which it would take effect—on which it would begin to be the law.

What else, what else? An insurance policy takes effect as of a certain date. Actually in the US most insurance policies take place at a specific time on a specific date. If you buy health insurance, car insurance, whatever, you and the insurance company agree on a date on which the policy takes effect. When does it officially start? You might sign all the papers on a Monday, but the agreement might not take effect until later in the week. Or, it might take effect immediately—that means, you sign, you pay, and it’s already in force, it’s already valid. If you’re going to buy a new car, you want to make sure the insurance takes effect before you officially buy the car and start driving it around. You don’t want to get into an accident – well, you don’t want to get into an accident on the first day you own a car anyway—but you really don’t want to get into an accident on your first day with a new car and then discover that your insurance policy doesn’t take effect until the next day. That would be bad.

Hey before we go, I just wanted to remind you that all Plain English listeners are eligible for a free audiobook from Audible by going to PlainEnglish.com/book. Just sign up for a free trial membership and you’ll get an audiobook to keep forever. If you don’t want to be a paying subscriber, just cancel in the trial period and you don’t have to pay anything. Audiobooks are a good way to challenge yourself if you’re getting good at listening and want to try something faster. I especially like it if I already know the story, so you don’t have to worry about picking up every word. PlainEnglish.com/book.

All right, that’s it for today. Don’t worry—JR and I will be back like always on Thursday with another episode as we creep toward number 100. Have a great week ahead.