Reticent

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Dr. Goodword
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Reticent

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:50 pm

• reticent •


Pronunciation: re-dê-sênt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Uncommunicative, reluctant to speak or express oneself, taciturn.

Notes: We bring up this word because an erroneous usage is creeping into US dictionaries: the sense of "reluctant to do anything", as in, "I'm reticent to come in to work today because of all the black ice on the streets." Most dialects of English do not allow this meaning. Only time will tell if this new, broader meaning will take over. Until we are sure, I propose we stick to the original meaning. The noun, reticence, should be treated the same way.

In Play: The remarkable aspect of this misused term is that it has so many interesting legitimate uses: "Bill was understandably reticent about the lipstick on his collar" or "Hillary became adamantly reticent when asked about the chocolates under the couch." Let's restore this word to its narrower, more precise semantic space.

Word History: So, what's new? Today's Good Word, like about half the words in the English language, comes from Latin. This time the source is Latin reticentia "silence" from reticere "to be silent". This verb is based on an earlier form, retacere, made up of re-, just an intensifier here, + tacere "to be silent". The tac- in this word can also be found in other borrowings from Latin, such as tacit, from tacitus "unspoken, passed over in silence". Taciturn "quiet, not talkative" comes from Latin taciturnus "of few words", also built on the root tac-. Only scant evidence of this word can be found in PIE languages outside Latin and the Romance languages that developed from it.
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brogine
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Re: Reticent

Postby brogine » Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:17 am

Thanks. I’ve noted the incorrect usage before. I think there’s a tendency to shun familiar words in favor of what seem to be more posh alternatives. A similar phenomenon is adding suffixes, which actually impart the wrong meaning: ‘localized’ for ‘local’ or ‘secondary’ for ‘second’.

MTC
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Re: Reticent

Postby MTC » Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:38 am

I’m with Dr. GoodWord on this one. (Always a safe bet.) That said,
I see Merriam-Webster disagrees:

'Reticent' can be used to mean both “inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech” or “reluctant.” While some find the “reluctant” sense inelegant, it has been in widespread use for a number of decades.

What percent of new word meanings result from misuse, I wonder?
It strikes me as somehow wrong to reward sloth and ignorance.

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Re: Reticent

Postby Slava » Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:02 am

Those of us what be stuck in the mud agree, but that's how language changes. If not for that, we'd be speaking Chaucer's English, or even further back.

My personal quibble these days is lie/lay. Lay has won the battle, I fear. :(
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: Reticent

Postby David Myer » Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:27 am

Thank you for adding this one. I have used the word for years to mean simply 'reluctant'. Certainly I am one of MTC's ignorants. I stand (or sit?) chastened. I will attempt (there I go with a pompous word instead of the simpler and better 'try') to get it right in future. But how will I remember, Debby? I can't see myself (given my historical misuse of the word) ever regarding the misguided use as 'inelegant'. Though I do like the moderation in that word.

I am with you Slava, on lie/lay. Often I catch myself in violent expostulation on the misuse of that one. And similarly (although I have given up on this website which offends repeatedly) with the distinction between alternate and alternative. It seems that in the US the two are interchangeable, and that alternate is used when alternative is meant. The loss of distinction is a sad one for the language.

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Re: Reticent

Postby MTC » Mon Jan 30, 2023 7:14 am

A strong opinion sparks a strong reaction. But, please don’t take it personally, Mr. Myer. No insult intended. As you and other well-educated Goodwordians will know, opinions about language change roughly divide into two opposing camps, prescriptivist and
descriptivist. I found the following summary of the terms online:

The key difference between prescriptivism and descriptivism is that prescriptivism is an approach that attempts to impose rules of correct usage on the users of a language whereas descriptivism is an approach that analyses the actual language used by speakers without focusing on aspects such as language rules or proper usage.

Our comments reveal our preferences.

Still, I suppose we’d all be speaking Chaucer’s English as Slava points out if contemporaneous rules were rigidly adhered to. On the other hand, shouldn’t good English have some standards? “Irregardless” is another example about which opinions sharply differ. It is a word in the dictionary, but to many including me it sounds like an illiterate gaffe. To other ears it must be a melody.
Not Chopin or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but at least not chalk scratching across a blackboard. Who is “right?”

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Re: Reticent

Postby Debbymoge » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:48 pm

David, I am hardly reticent, never have been, but am growing more and more so inclined as my memory fades; the familiar sounds unknown, and worse, some that seem so self-evident prove to be incorrect as soon as I hear them coming out of my mouth.
Therefore, I'm afraid I have no suggestions to offer, as I find myself so often in the same situation.

Let me add to the list of words that raise my hackles...
hopefully
as properly used, in my lexicon:
It will be a brighter day tomorrow, she said hopefully.
not
Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow.

relator
the new pronunciation of realtor.

nucular
the proof that one is not a nuclear scientist.

and finally (until next time)
verbage
if you can't manage 3 syllables (verbiage)
maybe substitute wording?
I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Shakespear

bbeeton
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Re: Reticent

Postby bbeeton » Mon Jan 30, 2023 11:25 pm

Debby,
Maybe "verbage" is a contraction of "verbal garbage". That might at least make sense.

David Myer
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Re: Reticent

Postby David Myer » Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:08 am

No chance of taking anything personally, I'm afraid. As well as being ignorant on lots of things including 'reticent', I am here to enjoy myself and perhaps to learn a little. And very happy to do so -it's part of the joy of being here. Besides, there is no shame in ignorance or not knowing something. Like Debby though, I am vaguely ashamed of learning something and then forgetting the lesson.

I wonder though, MTC, whether people do divide, even roughly, between the descriptivism and the prescriptivism camps? I see it very much as a scale or spectrum where nearly everyone fits somewhere between the camps. The descriptive me is all for living and letting live. The prescriptive me has his standards and notwithstanding common usage (abusage), he will continue to abide by them.

I think most word people accept these days that language evolves and that the rules are merely guides to be followed or not. But even reasonable thinkers have their hackles, it seems.

Debby, what about plice instead of police? Grrr! Very common in Australia, I'm afraid.


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