Since 1992
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By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Tacit
A tacit agreement is an unspoken agreement, one that is implied or understood without being stated.
The Latin proverb “Qui tacet consentit” means “He who remains silent consents,” or silence implies consent. The word tacit (pronounced TASS it) is from the Latin root ”tacere,” meaning to be silent. It is related to similar words that relate to the unspoken. “Taciturn” is the quality of being someone of few words or who says little. “Reticent” refers to a quality of not being inclined to speak freely or of being uncommunicative. “Tacenda” refers to things better left unsaid.
Spelled “tacet,” it is a musical direction to indicate that an instrument is to remain silent during a long section or movement. It’s one of the few musical directions not in Italian, although Italian is said to be one of the languages closest to Latin. Most musical terms are in Italian because many of the important early composers were Italian when musical indications first began to be used extensively. Because much of English comprises borrowed Latin, many Italian directions are easy to determine even if you don’t know Italian. You can probably figure descriptions like accelerando (gradually getting faster), appassionato (with passion), brio (vigor), moderato (at a moderate speed), or vivace (lively, quick).
Rubato, a direction meaning “with some freedom of time,” is from the Italian word for robbed. “Tempo rubato,” is literally “robbed time,” and means that strict tempo is abandoned to allow the performer the flexibility to speed up or slow down to emphasize certain passages. Early 20th century French composer Erik Satie used his own unconventional directions like “with conviction and a rigorous sadness,” “with a healthy superiority,” “hypocritically,” “shake like a leaf” and “like a nightingale with a toothache.” It sounds grander in the original French to say “comme un ivrogne” rather than “like a drunk.”
