2022-02-03
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D - defer & delay & postpone
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Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง defer = “dih-FUR”
ออกเสียง delay = ‘dih-LEY”
ออกเสียง postpone = “pohst-POHN”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
defer & delay & postpone
Each of these words
implies keeping or preventing something
from happening until a later time:
“I recommend that we defer (or delay or postpone) this action to our next meeting.”
To defer is to make a decision to do something later:
“I shall defer making a decision until tomorrow.”
To delay is to lay something aside to impede or hinder,
to put something off:
“I’ll delay answering this letter until I feel like writing.”
To postpone is to put something off to a particular time in the future
with the intention of following up:
“This election should be postponed until our next session,”
Each of these words may be followed by an -ing form of a verb
but not by an infinitive:
“He deferred leaving (not he deferred to leave),
delayed leaving, postponed leaving.”
Dictionary.com:
HISTORICAL USAGE OF DEFER
Defer “to put off, delay” comes from Middle English deferen, differren
“to put off, delay, be different, differentiate, refer a matter for decision;
defer to, show respect or deference to,”
from Old French def(f)erer, dif(f)erer “to have different qualities, be different, be dissimilar,”
from Latin differre “to carry away, carry in different directions, differ, postpone, adjourn.”
Differre is composed of the prefix dif- (a variant of dis- used before f ) “apart, asunder” and the simple verb ferre “to carry, bear.”
Defer and differ were originally the same word,
but spellings with def- for etymologically correct dif-,
which first appeared in the 15th century,
have become standard
in part because of the sense “to put off, delay” (absent in differ ),
in part because of the accent being on the root (second) syllable,
and in part through association with delay .
The meaning “to exempt temporarily from military service”
first appeared in 1941.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Choose the Right Synonym for defer
Verb (1)
Defer, Postpone, Suspend, Stay
mean to delay an action or proceeding.
Defer implies a deliberate putting off to a later time.
deferred buying a car until spring
Postpone implies an intentional deferring usually to a definite time.
the game is postponed until Saturday
Suspend implies temporary stoppage with
an added suggestion of waiting until some condition is satisfied.
business will be suspended while repairs are underway
Stay often suggests the stopping or checking
by an intervening agency or authority.
the governor stayed the execution
Verb (2)
Yield, Submit, Capitulate, Succumb, Relent, Defer
mean to give way to someone or something
that one can no longer resist.
Yield may apply to any sort or degree of
giving way before force, argument, persuasion, or entreaty.
yields too easily in any argument
Submit suggests full surrendering after resistance o
r conflict to the will or control of another.
a repentant sinner vowing to submit to the will of God
Capitulate stresses the fact of ending all resistance
and may imply either a coming to terms (as with an adversary) or hopelessness in the face of an irresistible opposing force.
officials capitulated to the protesters' demands
Succumb implies weakness and helplessness to the one
that gives way or an overwhelming power to the opposing force.
a stage actor succumbing to the lure of Hollywood
Relent implies a yielding through pity or mercy by one who holds the upper hand.
finally relented and let the children stay up late
Defer implies a voluntary yielding or submitting out of respect or reverence for or deference and affection toward another.
I defer to your expertise in these matters
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Did you know?
There are two words spelled defer in English.
The other defer, which means
"to delegate to another for determination or decision"
or "to submit to another's wishes or opinion"
(as in "I defer to your superior expertise"),
is derived from the Latin verb deferre, meaning "to bring down."
The defer we're featuring today is derived from Latin differre,
which itself has several meanings including "to postpone" and "to differ." Not surprisingly, differre is also
the source of our word differ, meaning "to be different."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Choose the Right Synonym for delay
Verb
Delay, Retard, Slow, Slacken, Detain
mean to cause to be late or behind in movement or progress.
Delay implies a holding back, usually by interference, from completion or arrival.
bad weather delayed our arrival
Retard suggests reduction of speed without actual stopping.
language barriers retarded their progress
Slow and Slacken also imply a reduction of speed,
Slow often suggesting deliberate intention
medication slowed the patient's heart rate,
Slacken an easing up or relaxing of power or effort.
on hot days runners slacken their pace
Detain implies a holding back beyond a reasonable or appointed time.
unexpected business had detained her
Delay, Procrastinate, Lag, Loiter, Dawdle, Dally
mean to move or act slowly so as to fall behind.
Delay usually implies a putting off of something
(such as a beginning or departure).
we cannot delay any longer
Procrastinate implies blameworthy delay
especially through laziness or apathy.
procrastinates about making decisions
Lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.
lagging behind in technology
Loiter and Dawdle imply delay while in progress,
especially in walking,
but Dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.
loitered at several store windows
children dawdling on their way home from school
Dally suggests delay through trifling
or vacillation when promptness is necessary.
stop dallying and get to work
Dictionary.com:
MORE ABOUT DELAY
What does delay mean?
As a verb, delay means to put something off
or postpone it until later,
or to cause something to take longer
or to be late.
As a noun, delay means
an instance of something being postponed till later,
or the amount of time between
when something was supposed to happen
and when it does happen (the lull or interlude).
Example:
The convention has not been canceled
—it has been delayed until we can find a proper venue.
Collins COBUILD English Usage:
Delay – cancel – postpone – put off
1. 'delay'
If you delay doing something, you do it at a later time.
The government delayed granting passports to them until a week before their departure.
Try and persuade them to delay some of the changes.
If a plane, train, ship, or bus is delayed,
it is prevented from leaving or arriving on time.
The coach was delayed for about five hours.
The flight has been delayed one hour, due to weather conditions.
2. 'cancel'
If you cancel something that was arranged,
you decide officially that it will not take place.
The Russian foreign minister has cancelled his trip to Washington.
Over 80 flights were cancelled because of bad weather.
3. 'postpone' and 'put off'
If you postponeor put off an event,
you arrange for it
to take place at a later time than was originally planned.
Postpone is more formal than put off.
The crew did not know that the invasion had been postponed.
This is not a decision that can be put off much longer.
The Association has put the event off until October.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Words We're Watching
Prepone
An Indian English word
which means "to move to an earlier time"
India has the second-largest English-speaking population in the world,
and just as some English words have roots from Hindi or Urdu,
such as bungalow, dungaree, and shampoo,
there are somedistinctly English words
that are used in distinctly Indian ways.
A perfect example is prepone, a word made to oppose postpone.
If postpone means “to put off to a later time,”
then prepone, logically, must mean “to move to an earlier time.”
Here are some examples of its use:
Tournament organizers have decided to prepone the inaugural ceremony.
They have preponed the film’s release.
A petition has been filed for preponing the date of the hearing.
The term is used in official and professional writing.
It is not slang, but part of a regionally distinct variety of English
called Indian English
(or sometimes Hinglish, from Hindi + English,
another word we’re watching).
Prepone has been in use for over a hundred years.
But prepone also has an interesting prehistory.
It was used as far back as the early 1500s
with a slightly different meaning, “to place in front of, to set before,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Here’s an example from a religious text from 1549:
I do prepone and set the Lord alwaye before myne eyes.
This sense is obsolete,
but the modern Indian prepone has a lot going for it:
it’s easy to say and spell,
it’s made of familiar parts,
and it’s an efficient way to say something
for which we have no other word.
It may well catch on in the rest of the English-speaking world.
