| Front | phatic \FATT-ik\ |
|---|---|
| Back | adjective Relating to a communication meant to generate an atmosphere of social relationship rather than to convey some information. ["Phatic" was coined in the early 20th century by people who apparently wanted to label a particular quirk of human communication--the tendency to use certain rote phrases (such as the standard greeting "how are you?") merely to establish a social connection without sharing any actual information. It probably won't surprise you, then, to learn that "phatic" derives from the Greek "phatos," a form of the verb "phanai," meaning "to speak." Other descendants of "phanai" in English include "apophasis" ("the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it"), "euphemism," "prophet," and the combining suffix "-phasia" (used to denote a speech disorder). You may also have spotted a similarity to "emphatic," but that turns out to be purely coincidence; "emphatic" traces back to a different Greek verb which means "to show."] "When I saw the transcript of that G8 conference conversation between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, my first thought was that it read not so much like a conversation between statesmen as the phatic gruntings of a pair of teenage Kevins." - Jane Shilling; Plenty of Chatter Masks a Dearth of Conversation; The Times (London, UK); Jul 21, 2006. |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Custos morum koos-tohs moh-room ruhm noun guardian morals
Previous card: Antecessor an-tih-sess-er noun predecessor literary critics hailed brilliant
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary