WORD OF THE WEEK #47 – taciturn

Here is another word that fits perfectly into the Word of the Week profile.  I found this in what I consider to be one of the best golf books ever written….”The Match” by Mark Frost.

The book revolves around a match that took place at the Bing Crosby Clam Bake….a celebrity pro-am held on the Monterey peninsula, one of the courses being Pebble Beach.

“Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan (Ben) more that excessive praise, and amateurs tended to gush helplessly in his presence on the golf course.”

The word taciturn is an adjective describing a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little.  Temperamentally disinclined to talk.  It usually connotes unsociability.

Reticent is a close synonym but implies a reluctance to speak out at length especially about one’s affairs.  A slight difference, but a difference you should understand.

Pronounced TASS eh turn

Other recent examples:

“I went on a speech strike … remaining defiantly taciturn through a procession of speech therapists and psychotherapist….” New Republic, 22 July 2002

“The pipe-smoking Malcolm Cowley … though a faithful fellow-traveler, was too taciturn usually to show his hand.” Summer 1989

This is a great word to work into your vocabulary.  It will make you sound smart yet unpretentious.

To learn more about this word and to hear it pronounced correctly go to the following link:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taciturn

A previous “Word of the Week” revisited:

ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ameliorate

Quote of the Week:

“The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.“   Andy Rooney

Well said Andy!

And finally this, for my grandsons. An example of the “Golden Rule” in action.

Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was only a few meters from the finish line, but got confused with the signs and stopped, thinking he had finished the race. A Spanish man, Ivan Fernandez Anaya, was right behind him and, realizing what was going on, started shouting to the Kenyan to keep running. Mutai did not know Spanish and did not understand.

Realizing what was going on, Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory.

A reporter asked Ivan, “Why did you do this? You could have won.” He replied, “I didn’t let him win, he was going to win. The race was his. What would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honor of this medal? What would my Mother think of it?”

(Note that at the end of the following list of pervious words there is a link to leave comments. All comments gushing with praise will be published.)

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

Forty seven weeks of great words:

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2 –   assuage- to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief”.
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent –  habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –   truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic –  foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. 
 “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting.
“We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant.  “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories.  “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech.  It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan (Ben) more that excessive praise.”