Today’s Words: Tact, Tactless and Tactful :: VoKaPedia

person in blue denim jeans writing on white paper

In the battle of existence, Talent is the punch; Tact is the clever footwork.

Wilson Mizner

Do you use the words tact, tactless and tactful in your speech or writing? Do you know the origins of the words tact, tactless and tactful? The word “tact“ simply means thoughtfulness, consideration or delicacy. It is a borrowed word from Latin and French. It comes from Proto-Indo European root “tag-” meaning to handle or to touch. The original word “tangere” meaning touch in Latin later became “tactus” and changed to “tact” in French in the 17th century. The word tactless is characterized by want of tact, and the word tactful signifies discretion.

Here are some examples for you: 1. My patience and tact are not endless. 2. It was tactless of her to tell us in front of our colleagues. 3. You should always find a tactful way of correcting aggressive people. 4. Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. (Isaac Newton)

Note. It is worth scrutinizing similar words in other languages as well. For example, as for the word “patavatsız” , the Turkish equivalence of “tactless” , it can be seen that there is no such word as “patavatlı” meaning tactful. The root patavat is not used with the positive suffix “-lı” here. Instead, the Turkish use the word nazik (delicate), kibar (polite) or düşünceli (considerate). Similarly, in Spanish, “sin tacto” means “tactless” ; and “diplomatica or diplomatico” (not con tacto) means “tactful”.