2020-12-31
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด R – Reticent & hesitant & taciturn
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Reticent = ‘RET-uh-suhnt’
ออกเสียง hesitant = ‘HEZ-i-tuhnt’
ออกเสียง taciturn = ‘TAS-i-turn’
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
Reticent = unwilling to speak;
reserved; taciturn,
uncommunicative:
She was reticent to answer our questions.
Not to be confused with:
reluctant= disinclined;
unwilling to act:
She’s reluctant to report him to the police.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
ret′i·cence (-səns) adv.
ret′i·cent·ly adv.
Usage Note:
Reticent is generally used to indicate a reluctanceto speak.
Most commentators on usage have criticized
its extended use as an all-purpose synonymfor reluctant.
In our 2001 survey, 83 percent of the Panel
found unacceptable the sentence
A lot of out-of-towners are reticent to come to the Twin Cities for a ballgame if there's a chance the game will be rained out.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for hesitant
DISINCLINED, HESITANT, RELUCTANT, LOATH, AVERSE
mean lacking the will or desireto do something indicated.
DISINCLINED implies lack of taste for or inclination.
disinclined to move again disinclined for reading
HESITANT implies a holding back especially through fear or uncertainty.
hesitant about asking for a date
RELUCTANT implies a holding back through unwillingness.
a reluctant witness
LOATH implies hesitancy because of conflict with one's opinions, predilections, or liking. seems loath to trust anyone
AVERSE implies a holding back from or avoiding because of distaste or repugnance. averse to hard work not averse to an occasional drink
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for taciturn
SILENT, TACITURN, RETICENT, RESERVED, SECRETIVE
mean showing restraint in speaking.
SILENT implies a habit of saying no more than is needed. the strong, silent type
TACITURN implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability. taciturn villagers
RETICENT implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs. was reticent about his plans
RESERVED implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of caution or formalityin checking easy informal conversational exchange. greetings were brief, formal, and reserved
SECRETIVE, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousnessand lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal. the secretive research and development division
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
How should you use taciturn?
The earliest currently-known example of taciturn
appears in a satiric drama written in 1734 by James Miller,
a British clergyman educated at Oxford.
A character describes a nephew thus:
"When he was little, he never was what they callRoguish or Waggish,
but was always close, quiet, and taciturn."
It seems we waited unduly long to adopt this useful descendant of the verb tacēre, meaning "to be silent"
—we were quicker to adopt other words from the tacēre family.
We’ve been using tacit, an adjective meaning "expressed without words" or "implied," since the mid-17th century.
And we’ve had the noun taciturnity,meaning "habitual silence," since at least 1450.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Taciturn
adjective : temperamentallydisinclined to talk
Taciturn may not pop up in daily conversations much,
but if you manage to include it in your expressive vocabulary
you'll be in good company:
it's a term that appears in the works of some of the English language's most esteemed dead writers,
among them Austen, Brontë (both Charlotte and Emily), Conrad, Melville, Joyce, and Wharton.
Living writers use it too.
I thought, if I had caused the cloud, it was my duty to make an effort to dispel it. They could not every day sit so grim and taciturn; and it was impossible, however ill-tempered they might be, that the universal scowl they wore was their everyday countenance.
— Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, 1847
The word is ultimately from Latin tacitus, meaning "silent"
—the same source as the word tacit,
meaning "expressed or carried on withoutwords or speech"
and "implied or indicated
(as by an act or by silence) but not actually expressed."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for reticent
SILENT, TACITURN, RETICENT, RESERVED, SECRETIVE
mean showing restraint in speaking.
SILENT implies a habit of saying no more than is needed. the strong, silent type
TACITURN implies a temperamental disinclination to speech
and usually connotes unsociability. taciturn villagers
RETICENT implies a reluctance to speak out or at length,
especially about one's own affairs. was reticent about his plans
RESERVED implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of cautionor formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange. greetings were brief, formal, and reserved
SECRETIVE, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousness and lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal. the secretive research and development division
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The History of Reticent Is Less Than 200 Years Old
Reticent first appeared about 170 years ago,
but the "reluctant" sense of"reticent"
is a mid-20th century introduction.
Though it is now well-established,
this newer sense bothers some people,
particularly because it has veered away from
the word's Latin origins
- "reticent" is from the verb "reticēre,"
meaning "to keep silent."
But there is some sense in the way the newer meaning developed.
We first tended to use the "reluctant" sense of "reticent"
when the context was speech (as in"reticent to talk about her past"),
thus keeping the word close to its "silent" sense.
Eventually, however, exclusive association with speechwas abandoned. Now one can be "reticent" to do anything.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Why are people looking up reticent?
Reticent spiked on May 21, 2019,
after CNN first reported the apparent reluctance of
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team
to seeing him testify before Congress.
According to their report:
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team
has expressed reticence to him testifying publicly
in front of the House Judiciary Committee
The headline for CNN's article, however,
used the word hesitant rather than reticent:
Special counsel's team hesitant about Mueller testifying publicly,
part of hold up securing testimony
What does reticent mean?
The oldest meaning of reticence is
"the quality or state of being inclined to be silent
or uncommunicative in speech,"
a synonym of "reserve" and "restraint."
Over time, it came to mean, more broadly,
"an instance of being restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance."
The word's meaning then broadened again
to be a synonym of reluctance,
indicating usage that goes beyond verbal restraint.
Where does reticent come from?
Reticence traces back to the Latin verb reticēre,
meaning "to keep silent," made upfrom re- + tacēre ("to be silent"),
which is also the root of tacit.
What is notable about this use of reticent?
Many people wish that the reticence and reticent
had retained their “silent, uncommunicative” meanings,
and find that the use of either to refer to “reluctance” is unseemly.
While these new senses may have strayed somewhatfrom their etymology,
there is no doubt that they are now firmly part of our language.
We have been using this word in a “reluctant” sense since the 19th century.
He adds that $6,000,000 of bonds under his recent $25,000,000 offer are still lacking and intimates that until these bonds have been offered he will be reticent to extend further aid. —Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10 Dec. 1899
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Can 'Reticent' Be Used to Mean 'Reluctant'?
We're not at all reticent to tell you it can
The word reticent is a Latin borrowing of the early 1800s.
It comes from reticēre, meaning "to keep silent,"
and was ushered into English with
a meaning of "inclined to be silentor uncommunicative."
It was used by the likes of George Eliot and Ralph Waldo Emerson
to describe those reserved folk who keep mum
when others might yammer on
—or even just mutter a word or two—about something.
While 'reticent' originally meant "inclined to be silent,"
it can now also be used as a synonym for 'reluctant'
—most often in the case of reluctant communication.
Within 50 years, the word had started to developa broader meaning.
Instead of just describing those who are reluctant to speak,
it was being used to describe those who are just plain reluctant.
Usually, though, the idea being communicated
was the same as with the original use:
phrases like "reticent to give information" and
"reticent about speaking of it"
maintained the "inclined not totalk" meaning.
Reticent meaning "hesitant" or "reluctant"
is most frequently followed by "to"and a verb.
In the early part of the 20th century
reticent to wasn't all that common,
and when it was used it was followed by verbs
that preserved that original "inclined not to talk" meaning,
like discuss and talk.
Or it was followed by no verb at all,
as in phrases like "reticent to a fault" or "reticent to us."
But as the 20th century wore on,
the use of reticent to mean "hesitant" increased,
and by the 1940s reticent to was increasingly being followed
by verbs like accept, participate, and commit.
When reticent means "reluctant" or "hesitant" today,
it often does so in the context of reluctantcommunication
of one kind or another.
The use is fully established, though, for other contexts too.
Another note:
reticent developed another meaning around the same time
as the "reluctant" one,
but it doesn't seem to bother anyone.
The "restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance" meaning
is also fully established.
Some people like to use it to describe wines
that haven't matured enough to speaktheir full aromatic minds yet.
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
Reticent & hesitant
“Reticent” most often means “reluctant to speak.”
It can also mean "reserved,” “restrained,”
though conservatives prefer to use it to apply only to speech.
If you’re feeling nervous about doing something,
you’re hesitant:
“I’m hesitant about trying to ride a unicycle in public.”
“Hesitant” is by far the more common word;
so if you hesitate to choose between the two, go with “hesitant."
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
Reticent & taciturn
A reticent person is reserved, not inclined to speak freely
or often, disposed to keep quiet.
A taciturn person is also inclined to silence and reluctant
to take part in conversation.
However, a taciturn individual is usually
considered surly, dour, sullen, and severe.
That is, a reticent person is pleasantly shy, withdrawn, and silent:
a taciturn individual is unpleasantlyso.
Related words are silent, uncommunicative, reserved, still and quiescent.
