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In an advertisement on YouTube, that have made no sense to me at first. I have a little understood what they are saying since the second time. Then I have met with some weird speech. That is, a man operates a program to amend his essay, then soon after the word 'effect' is changed into a word 'affect', and he says

"effect... affect, it always gets me!"

I thought it doesn't make any sense. I would be wrong though. I haven't found out the suitable meaning of get in the situation. Then, I thought it must be It always gets to me! The word sound just disappears. please, explain the reason why it happens to me!

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    You haven't missed any word. The expression "it always gets me" is what the man says. It is sense 19 (or perhaps 20) in wikitionary en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get#Verb
    – James K
    May 16, 2022 at 6:23
  • James K I've changed my question. What do you think in the situation?
    – bak1936
    May 16, 2022 at 7:44
  • What do you mean by "sound", are you referring to the initial sound in effect vs affect?
    – Mari-Lou A
    May 16, 2022 at 11:57
  • Your first edit, eliminating "into" was correct: "I thought it must be It always gets into me! but no longer explains what your problem was. Now that I have seen the edit, it's clearer what sound you were referring to, the preposition into/to but the correct idiom is "gets me"
    – Mari-Lou A
    May 16, 2022 at 12:04
  • No, I didn't mean that.
    – bak1936
    May 16, 2022 at 12:04

3 Answers 3

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"It always gets me" has a number of different uses, but in the context of your example it means that it always causes them confusion, or always makes them 'trip up' (make a mistake). A variation on this is "it gets me every time!"

This comes from the many and varied definitions of the word 'get'. In this context it means to 'seize' or 'overcome' (the 8th definition in Websters). For example, if you were hurt by someone or something, you might say "it/they got me!". The idiom treats the problem as something that is purposefully there to catch you out.

Mixing up the words 'effect' and 'affect' is a common mistake made by English speakers. So, he is saying that he always makes that mistake, despite knowing that the pitfall exists.

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"it always gets me" is a phrase that means something makes you react every time it happens. In this context, the man keeps getting confused between "affect" and "effect", as the sound similar, so this action of him getting confused every time he meets these 2 words leads to him saying "it always gets me".

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  • I modified my post. what do you think about that?
    – bak1936
    May 16, 2022 at 7:46
  • @bak1936 - consider, in this specific context, 'gets me' to mean 'confuses me', or 'makes me stop and think'. May 16, 2022 at 11:43
  • Sorry I think this is wrong. You are correct that "it always gets me" can mean something has an effect on you - for example, a person might say of a movie that always makes them cry "it gets me every time". But that is not the context of the OP's example. In fact, I think that usage is possibly a mistake and should be "it gets to me".
    – Astralbee
    May 16, 2022 at 11:46
  • @Astralbee - I am confused. I might say equally that Pomp and Circumstance or Voi Che Sapete in Figaro get, or get to me 'every time' (make me weep and rejoice respectively). I would not say that 'affect/effect' or 'lose/loose' get to me, only get me (neither does actually). May 16, 2022 at 19:01
  • @MichaelHarvey I'll accept that either variation may be used for that context. But still, that particular definition of "get" and "gets me" in this answer is not the same as that in the OP's question. Your example in particular is a 'positive' emotional response, and that would be at odds with the definition that something causes you to stumble.
    – Astralbee
    May 16, 2022 at 21:18
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There is no missing sound here. What's being said is "it always gets me".

The meaning of get is:

Baffle (someone)

  • ‘“What's a ‘flowery boundary tree’?” “You got me.”’
  • ‘What is an annuity? No, you got me there.’

It's the context that allows us to rule out other similar definitions (such as "Annoy or amuse (someone) greatly"). Affect and effect are homophones (or near homophones, depending on who you ask) which people often confuse in writing. They're not interchangeable: Affect vs. Effect: How to Pick the Right One

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  • The question wasn't asking about the meaning at all. It wasn't asking about the difference between "effect" and "affect", please read the comments, where I tried to get the OP to clarify what was the "sound" they were referring to.
    – Mari-Lou A
    May 16, 2022 at 15:09
  • "The word sound just disappears. please, explain the reason why it happens to me!" how else would you explain this last line?
    – Mari-Lou A
    May 16, 2022 at 15:10
  • @Mari-LouA Does my edit address that sufficiently? To me the question isn't unclear; they just think there's a missing "to" sound in the sentence.
    – Laurel
    May 16, 2022 at 15:18
  • It depends on your point of view: the recent edit means the answers now make greater sense to readers. But that is not what the OP was asking about. yes, they were puzzled by the expression but they thought they had misheard that it should have been "it always gets into me". An answer would explain the difference between "it always gets me" and (original Q) "it always gets into (to) me". But that's just me.
    – Mari-Lou A
    May 16, 2022 at 15:29

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