Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DISCOUNTENANCE

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connect today's word to others: If you're like me, you love to organize things, you get really excited about shelves and boxes, and your personal heaven is The Container Store, whose slogan is, very appropriately in my case, "Contain Yourself." "Contain yourself." What does that mean, really? Be calm, keep your behavior in control. The Latin continentia means "the way one contains oneself," or more literally, "the way one holds oneself together," and from continentia we get the noun countenance, which can mean your behavior, your self-control, your attitude, the look on your face, or the support or approval you give. And, to countenance something is to smile on it: to encourage it, to support it, to allow it, to back it up. "Thanks for countenancing my obsession with color-coded file folders." So in that sense, the noun countenance is a synonym of support, approval, and im____tur (literally "let it be printed," or an official license). Now take countenance and reverse it: discountenance is disapproval, and to discountenance something is to frown on it: to discourage it, to disallow it, to d__er it (literally, to "frighten it away"). "The only things I discountenance are heaps of disorganized papers." But discountenance can also mean to perplex, to befuddle, to embarrass, to n____us (literally to make someone able to go "no further," as in "I'm no___ussed by sports trivia"). "I love this white Bisley drawer cabinet, but I'm discountenanced by the $220 price tag." (I swear this issue wasn't sponsored by The Container Store!) (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "DISCOUNTENANCE" Countenance is formal approval or permission, and to countenance something is to give your formal approval of it, or your formal permission for it. So, discountenance is disapproval: a lack of permission or a lack of approval. And to discountenance something is to disapprove of it or to not allow it, or to discourage it or frown upon it. To discountenance people can also mean to make them feel ashamed, confused, or embarrassed. Pronunciation: dis COWN tun unce Part of speech: Both a noun ("his discountenance of the habit") and a verb ("he discountenances the habit"). Other forms: discountenanced, discountenancing, discountenancer(s) How to use it: This word is formal, serious, and even a bit old-fashioned.  When you use "discountenance" to mean "to disapprove of," you might talk about people discountenancing other people: "they discountenanced alcoholics," "they discountenanced female preachers." Or, talk about people discountenancing certain behaviors, practices, habits, feelings, reactions, statements, beliefs, etc., such as profanity, laziness, or gambling. And, when you use "discountenance" to mean "to shame or to confuse" you can talk about people and things that discountenance people: "she's self-assured and not easily discountenanced," "we were discountenanced by the snub," "the rejection still discountenances him." examples: He was always a strong leader, never discountenanced by criticism from the media.  "[In the game of curling,] betting, excepting for the smallest stakes, is discountenanced."    — Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 study it: Explain the meaning of "discountenance" without saying "frown upon" or "flummox." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (dropped his or her jaw, stared in shock or silence, or stopped in his or her tracks), discountenanced that (something confusing or embarrassing had happened)." Example: "I stopped in my tracks, discountenanced that my four-year-old had called another shopper 'really big and fat.'" before you review, play: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game is "TV Tropes!" This month, we're playing with tropes from TVTropes.org. TV tropes are storytelling devices, which can come from any source of fiction—TV, movies, books, you name it. They're the archetypes, the story patterns, the plot devices, the cheap tricks, the situational clichés that we see over and over throughout fiction.  Examples of TV tropes include "Skyward Scream," "Banister Slide," "Caught on the Jumbotron," "Burp of Finality," "City People Eat Sushi," "Dance Party Ending," "Clean Pretty Childbirth," "Come Back to Bed, Honey," "Even the Subtitler is Stumped," and tens of thousands more. Naming a trope can be a straightforward business, as in the "Skyward Scream." But often it demands precision, inviting the use of humorously sophisticated terms. Enter our Make Your Point words.  In each issue this month, consider the name of a TV trope, and try to define it or even give an example from a TV show or other work of fiction. From the previous issue: In fiction, what is the trope known as Enmity with an Object? Answer: It's when a character treats some inanimate object with irrational hatred. For example, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, King Neptune orders the execution of a pole he bumped into. Try this today: In fiction, what is the trope known as the Cross-Cultural Kerfuffle? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of DISCOUNTENANCE is A. CHEER. B. ENCOURAGE. C. PARTICIPATE. 2. The managers discountenance dating among the staff, but they don't outright _____ it. A. forbid B. organize C. recognize Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. A