All 9 Uses of
discretion
in
The Magic Mountain
- A deep desire to enjoy the indiscretion blended with feelings of compassion and piety.†
Chpt 5.2indiscretion = behavior that displays a lack of good judgmentstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscretion means not and reverses the meaning of discretion. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- And he recalled the calm, generous reply of "Oh, please, go ahead and look," that he had once received out of the dark night of the X-ray laboratory, when he had thought it necessary to ask permission to commit certain optical indiscretions.†
Chpt 7.8 *indiscretions = instances of poor judgmentstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscretions means not and reverses the meaning of discretions. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- And at the thought, Hans Castorp turned his head to one side, and his face darkened with the shadow or respectability and assumed a look of discretion and propriety that seemed appropriate to such a vision.†
Chpt 5.2 *
- That look on his face, as if he had something foul-tasting in his mouth, had become more and more pronounced; then he had been confined to his bed, and then he died—no one knew exactly when; the matter was handled with customary tact and discretion.†
Chpt 6.1
- Discretion probably plays a role as well.†
Chpt 6.3
- But the local custom of discretion had meant that he learned of Karen's demise too late and that she had already been placed in a permanent horizontal position, in the garden of the cupid whose snowy cap was cocked to one side.†
Chpt 6.6
- "This is the typical mode of experience of someone lost in a mountain snowstorm, who never finds his way home," he thought as he struggled along, the phrases emerging in tattered, breathless fragments—discretion forbade his putting it more explicitly.†
Chpt 6.7
- There was no reason to be shy about turning to Herr Settembrini for further information; inasmuch as the Italian had never been particularly careful about making a secret of his membership in that harmonious society, he could not reproach Herr Naphta for a lack of discretion in the matter.†
Chpt 6.8
- And when it comes to discretion, I can hold my own, I think I can assure you of that.†
Chpt 6.8
Definitions:
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(1)
(discretion as in: It is within her discretion.) the right to make a decision (and perhaps accompanying good judgment)
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(2)
(discretion as in: embarrassing lack of discretion) behavior that does not attract undesired attention or reveal private information
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(3)
(discretion as in: Parental discretion advised.) good judgment or good taste