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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've just started reading Antonia Fraser's "The Weaker Vessel", about women in 17th century England. She's talking about Elizabeth Walker, whose husband, Dr. Anthony Walker, wrote a biography of her.
On another occasion Dr Walker was telling Elizabeth why he loved her and began: 'First for conscience -'. She stopped him.
'I would have thee love me, not because thou must but because thou wilt, not as a duty but as a delight. For,' she added, 'we are prone to reluctate against what is imposed, but to take pleasure in what we choose.'
'Our mutual compellation', wrote Dr Walker, 'was always "My dear", not spoken automatically nor as an empty compliment, but the sincere interpretation of the language of our hearts.'
I'm not sure about compellation, but I think reluctate is worth reviving.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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My students reluctate against thinking to any degree past their preferred form of knee-jerk reactions:
"(v. i.) To struggle against anything; to resist; to oppose. " (onelook.com)
Thanks for this one, Bingley. It's good to have still another word in my head when I'm attempting to teach such ordeals as irregular verbs. And here's a regular one you've provided for the conjugation chart--with the challenge of a slight spelling shift to drop that final 'e' for the present participle!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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B&M OED also offers reluct. It differs from reluctate in that reluct means 'to struggle to do something' as opposed reluctate's meaning 'to struggle against something.'
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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bingley, my dear, this reminds me of an article i read about the difference between service and servitude.
we serve with delight--(our friends or family meals, or lodging) but we are compelled into servitude.
too often serving and service are confused with servitude..
its not uncommon to hear some one say, "its a pleasure to serve you" through gritted teeth, with a snarl.. obviously, they are taking no pleasure in serving. they are performing acts of servitude.
i love knitting for my grand daughter--and she serves me well by loving the sweaters i knit for her! It will change at some point, i expect, and she will want mass produced clothes so she can look like all her peers. but for now it works.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>reluct means 'to struggle to do something'
this is true, at least in its original sense; but OED goes on to say this usage became obsolete, and the word was later used (prolly as a back-formation of reluctant) as synonymous with reluctate.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Just goes to show you're courting disaster having two words so close in sound meaning opposite things. We should start using both words and see which word (or, if both words) raise(s) the ire of the knee-jerk prescrip.
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