the pernicious and silly term "influence"

Sounds like it fits to me!

i was actually thinking as i wrote it 'mustn't use the term influence or mark s will be after me'.

fwiw, i'm of mark's view in this extremely enjoyable thread. clearly influence can be used to describe something, a relationship, but it's not very clear about that relationship - i liked 'WHO DO YOU BELIEVE IN' far better. or the old NME or the idea of the your unofficial curriculum (I think there's even a thread). i mean i use influence a lot obv, but think it probably skates over more than it reveals, might even be considered lazy.

I am now questioning the use of "influence" everywhere I encounter it, and for that I can thank mark s., you've really had a major--ah, never mind.

“he put the ‘fluence ‘pon me”

Q: WHO DO YOU BELIEVE IN?

a: mark s

left a mark, you might say