What’s it called when you unenthusiastically do something that you have reservations about. You might consciously resist participating in something because you’re ethically opposed to it or because it conflicts with your personal ideals. But in the end you submit either because you’re compelled by duty or obligation, you realize your ideals aren’t pragmatic, or your method keeps failing, or you realize you were wrong. Whatever the reason, you might not be happy about it and you might not want to admit it, or maybe you’re simply being forced. But in the end you relinquish control or subdue your inclination to resist, and you cooperate or comply.
An example is, you might be a passionate, publicly outspoken opponent of euthanasia for many years; adamant that your way is the best and only way until a day comes that you have to watch as someone dear to you suffers.
Another example is, you might be in the military, and your commanding officer gives you an order to do something that you disagree with but you decide to just grit your teeth and do as you’re told.
It’s a word that I learned only recently, and I have used it in context before, but have forgotten. I believe it’s a verb. Actually, I recall there being two similar, but distinctly etymologically separate words that both can be used to basically mean the same thing.
Continue Learning about English Language Arts
What is the word for doing something correct?
right
Is destroy a verb?
Yes it is. A verb is any word that describes doing something,
and destroying is definantly doing something.
Word for doing something very theral?
theral
Is the word teaching a verb?
Yes, because you are teaching something you are doing something
Where did the word butter come from?
the word butter comoes from something but i dont know lol
I am reading Of Mice and Men, and I am trying to come up with a word that describes how George manages to shoot Lennie at the end of the book.
I have come up with Self Discipline, and Overcoming Weakness, but none of those really seem to suffice.
Any suggestions would be great!
Answer
consider: moral conflict or ethical dilemma
An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. wikipedia
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : A.J. Uppal , Answer Author : Mou某
Posted by8 years ago
Archived
Like bribe, or blackmail, but thise aren’t the words I wanted… E-something in think.
Edit: after a while, it came to me. The definition wasn’t correct, but the word I was looking for was extortion!
This thread is archived
New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast
level 1
tradeoff, bargain, compromise, sacrifice…
level 1
Extortion is when people extort something from you, like money, forcefully. You don’t get anything for it. Blackmailing would be the right answer, if it’s someone forcing you to do something you don’t want to do in order to prevent something else to happen. I think?
level 1
You’ve already got your answer, but another sub useful for this kind of thing is r/tipofmytongue
-
#1
Hello everyone! Please help!
There’s a sentence: “You don’t want to go on living with her”.
To make a proper translation, I need to know what does the idiom ‘you don’t want to do < something >’ mean.
Does it mean in the context of this sentence:
1) Don’t go on living with her!
2) I know that you don’t want to go on living with her.
3) How can you go on living with her?
4) You can’t go on living with her!
5) Your variant?
Thank you.
Last edited by a moderator: Feb 7, 2012
-
#2
It means:
It will be bad living with her, and you are better off avoiding it as much as possible.
You don’t want to put your finger in boiling water. — you should avoid putting your finger in boiling water.
You don’t really want to live in this part of the town — you should try to find a flat elsewhere.
-
#3
It might mean any of those.
P.S.: «Smth» is not an English abbreviation; that and other shorthand expressions used in texting are not permitted here.
-
#4
I agree with morzh, actually. I would expand the sentence as «It would be a bad idea to keep on living with her.» It seems to me like «you don’t (really) want to do X» is a way of giving advice, not really a way of trying to make statements about «your» desires.
-
#5
<< Response to deleted posts. >>
On a serious note, I heard «you don’t want to do something» many-many times in my life, and only in that one meaning.
Last edited by a moderator: Feb 7, 2012
-
#6
… «Smth» is not an English abbreviation; that and other shorthand expressions used in texting are not permitted here.
I’d just like to add that this is not just a rule here. This abbreviations and others like it, despite their use in some dictionaries to save space, are never used by native speakers. It is best to forget that they exist.
-
#7
Thanks a lot for your explanations guys.
I’ll keep in mind that advice on not using ‘smth’.
-
#8
It seems rather clear that the structure «You don’t want to do something» can be used to give advice or as a warning — very much like «you shouldn’t» or «you’d better not».
My question is: Can this structure be used with a different subject? Most dictionaries I’ve checked have «You» as the subject. I’ve only found the following one with «he»: He wants to be more careful.
So for instance, is the following sentence correct?: Please don’t talk about politics with my parents. We don’t want to turn the dinner party into a battlefield.
-
#9
The construction [Subject] don’t/doesn’t want to [verb] is fully conjugable. It is not really an idiom as a literal reading reveals its meaning. In the first person, it is simply a statement;
«I/We don’t want to go to that dentist, he’s a butcher.»
in all other forms it is subjective advice:
«You don’t want to go to that dentist, he’s a butcher.»
«He/She doesn’t want to go to that dentist, he’s a butcher.»
«They don’t want to go to that dentist, he’s a butcher.»
The first clause is invariably said in a concerned and worried voice; the second clause with a tone that implies «and that’s a fact!» or «I have warned you!»
The past tense is heard in reported speech:
«I told you you didn’t want to go to that dentist! But you didn’t listen, did you?»
but is often rendered as
«I told you you shouldn’t go to that dentist! But you wouldn’t listen, would you?»
There is also a colloquial present continuous tense:
«If you are visiting London, there’s the part called The East End, but you don’t want to be going there at night…»
In all cases, the positive, which achieves the nuance of urging/a recommendation, is achieved by removing the «do not».