Tact
From Nordan Symposia
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Definition
- b. fig. A keen faculty of perception or discrimination likened to the sense of touch.
- 2. Ready and delicate sense of what is fitting and proper in dealing with others, so as to avoid giving offence, or win good will; skill or judgement in dealing with men or negotiating difficult or delicate situations; the faculty of saying or doing the right thing at the right time. [a. F. tact (Voltaire 1769).]
- 3. The act of touching or handling; an instance of this, a touch. Obs. rare. [So in L.]
- II. 4. Mus. A stroke in beating time; = BEAT n.1 4: see also quot. 1891. [= (Germ.) L. tactus, Adam v. Fulda 1490; Ger. tact, Prätorius 1619.]
- III. 5. Psychol. [Final element of con)tact.] B. F. Skinner's term for an utterance which is evoked by an object, event, etc., and reinforces the learning of a response. Hence as v. trans., to respond to (a stimulus) with an utterance; intr., to utter words or sounds in this way; so {sm}tacted ppl. a.; {sm}tacting vbl. n. Cf. MAND.
Quote
Tact is the fulcrum of social leverage, and tolerance is the earmark of a great soul.