{"id":4548,"date":"2019-03-29T13:55:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T08:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/?p=4548"},"modified":"2019-03-29T14:13:11","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T08:43:11","slug":"thats-the-word-for-it-tergiversate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/29\/thats-the-word-for-it-tergiversate\/","title":{"rendered":"That\u2019s the Word for It: Tergiversate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The word tergiversate was first used way back in 1590. But the word came back in full force and in 2011 it was named the Word of the Year by Dictionary.com as it represented the changing attitudes of the time.<\/p>\n

Here are some instances of the word being used:<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a feeling once about Mathematics – that I saw it all. Depth beyond depth was revealed to me – the Byss and Abyss. I saw – as one might see the transit of Venus or even the Lord Mayor’s Show – a quantity passing through infinity and changing its sign from plus to minus. I saw exactly why it happened and why the tergiversation<\/strong> was inevitable but it was after dinner and I let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2015 Winston S. Churchill, My Early Life, 1874-1904<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAges of prolonged uncertainty, while they are compatible with the highest degree of saintliness in a few, are inimical to the prosaic every-day virtues of respectable citizens. There seems no use in thrift, when tomorrow all your savings may be dissipated; no advantage in honesty, when the man towards whom you practice it is pretty sure to swindle you; no point in steadfast adherence to the cause, when no cause is important or has a chance of stable victory; no argument in favour of truthfulness, when only supple tergiversation<\/strong> makes the preservation of life and fortune possible. The man whose virtue has no source except a purely terrestrial prudence will in such a world, become an adventurer if he has the courage, and, if not, will seek obscurity as a timid time-server.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2015 Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word tergiversate was first used way back in 1590. But the word came back in full force and in 2011 it was named the Word of the Year by Dictionary.com as it represented the changing attitudes of the time. Here are some instances of the word being used: \u201cI had a feeling once about … Continue reading “That\u2019s the Word for It: Tergiversate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[251],"tags":[262],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7vAZr-1bm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4886,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/13\/thats-the-word-for-it-apricity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":0},"title":"That's the Word for It: Apricity","date":"February 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Apricity is a word that the Pothi.com team stumbled upon on Twitter. It's a rare word, having appeared in 1623 when Henry Cockeram recorded or invented it it for his dictionary. The word never really took off. Here are some instances of this word used in literature: Apricity (n.) the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/apricity.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4882,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/05\/thats-the-word-for-it-braggadocio\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":1},"title":"That's the Word for It: Braggadocio","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This flamboyant word was first used by the poet Edmund Spencer in the poem Faerie Queene. The word seems to be making a comeback in political circles. Even President Donald Trump attempted to use the word- \"I wrote the Art of the Deal. I say that not in a braggadocious\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/braggadocio.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4567,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/10\/thats-the-word-for-it-contronym\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":2},"title":"That\u2019s the Word For It: Contronym","date":"May 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever thought about why fast means quick\u00a0and at the same time means to immobilize? When a word or phrase means its opposite as well, it is called a contronym. Slang employs this kind of inversion of meaning, take for instance the word \u2018sick\u2019 or \u2018wicked\u2019 now used to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instascribe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/contronym.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4699,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/14\/thats-the-word-for-it-profluent\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":3},"title":"That's the Word For it: Profluent","date":"August 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This word has Middle English and Latin roots and has to do with flow. You could use the word to describe music or a piece of writing. Here's an example of how the word can be used. \"A few years later, when I learned that Jayne Anne founded the MFA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/profluent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4726,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/04\/thats-the-word-for-it-fugacious\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":4},"title":"That's the Word For It: Fugacious","date":"September 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The word fugacious deals with emotions and interestingly also to the idea of withering leaves in botany.\u00a0 Fugacious\u00a0derives from the Latin verb\u00a0fugere or flee. \u00a0Some derivative words include fugitive, refuge, and subterfuge. A beautiful word to use in literature: \u201cLove is a fugacious word. Rounded and comfortable, it lifts the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/fugacious.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4629,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/10\/thats-the-word-for-it-spelunker\/","url_meta":{"origin":4548,"position":5},"title":"That\u2019s the Word For it: Spelunker","date":"July 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A spelunker is a Latin sounding term for caver. According to Merriam Webster, the\u00a0word came into adventure sport lingo because of the author and outdoorsman Clair Willard Perry. The word seems to be used a great deal in literature: \u201cI have no special desire to go crawl around in caves,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/instascribe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/spelunker.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4549,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4548\/revisions\/4549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}