Of a person: Reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little. (OD)
Temperamentally disinclined to talk. (MW)
See: laconic, pauciloquent
taqiyya or taqiya or taqqiyah (Islamic doctrine)
In Islam, concealment and dissimulation (concealment of one's thoughts, feelings, or character; pretense).
(Greg Davis, Islam 101, JihadWatch.org)
See: pretense, dissimulation
taradiddle (noun)
Pretentious nonsense. (OD)
See: balderdash, drivel, guff, malarkey, piffle
tarmacadam (noun)
Tarmac: Material used for surfacing roads or other outdoor areas, consisting of broken stone mixed with tar. (OD)
Tar + Macadam (John Loudon McAdam, 1756-1836, who developed method for covering roads).
tarmacadamed (adjective): Paved.
Note: Today, tarmac seems to be used exclusively for airport runways. At least I have not encountered any other usage.
tarry (verb)
To delay or be tardy in beginning or doing anything, especially in coming or going; to wait before doing something; to linger, loiter. (OED)
See: dally, dawdle, dillydally, lollygag
Note: Of course all of these terms are derogatory, but I suppose tarry is, relatively, the most polite.
temerity (noun)
Excessive confidence or boldness; audacity. (OD)
tetchy (adjective)
Irritable and bad-tempered. (OD)
tetchiness (noun)
tetchily (adverb)
timorous (adjective)
Showing or suffering from nervousness or a lack of confidence. (OD)
timorously (adverb)
tipple (verb, noun)
verb: Drink alcohol, especially habitually. (OD)
noun: An alcoholic drink. (OD)
torpor (noun)
traduce (verb)
To expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood & misrepresentation. (MW)
Speak badly of or tell lies about (someone) so as to damage their reputation. (OD)
To speak ill of, falsely or maliciously; to defame, malign, vilify, slander; to blame, censure. To expose to contempt; to bring discredit upon; to dishonor, disgrace. (OED)
traducement (noun)
Tragedy of the Commons (economic theory)
A term used to describe a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action. The concept and phrase originated in an essay written in 1833 by the British economist William Forster Lloyd, who used a hypothetical example of the effects of unregulated grazing on common land (also known as a "common") in the British Isles. The concept became widely known over a century later due to an article written by the American ecologist and philosopher Garrett Hardin in 1968. In this modern economic context, commons is taken to mean any shared and unregulated resource such as atmosphere, oceans, rivers, fish stocks, or even an office refrigerator. (Wikipedia)
tranche (noun)
A portion of something, especially money. (OD)
tarry (verb)
To delay or be tardy in beginning or doing anything, especially in coming or going; to wait before doing something; to linger, loiter. (OED)
See: dally, dawdle, dillydally, lollygag
Note: Of course all of these terms are derogatory, but I suppose tarry is, relatively, the most polite.
temerity (noun)
Excessive confidence or boldness; audacity. (OD)
tetchy (adjective)
Irritable and bad-tempered. (OD)
tetchiness (noun)
tetchily (adverb)
timorous (adjective)
Showing or suffering from nervousness or a lack of confidence. (OD)
timorously (adverb)
tipple (verb, noun)
verb: Drink alcohol, especially habitually. (OD)
noun: An alcoholic drink. (OD)
torpor (noun)
A state of a physical or mental inactivity; lethargy. (NOA)
Note: I found this term in the comments to a WSJ article on French elections.
Note: I found this term in the comments to a WSJ article on French elections.
Comment: Poor guy has been trying to roust the permanently socialist French from their catatonic torpor. It is a tough climb for any leader in France unless they also go with the socialist flow and then things are easy. Just up the anesthesia for a deeper sleep, and everything will be just fine. Mother France will keep you cozy and comfortably numb. Fred R (@FredR273)
traduce (verb)
To expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood & misrepresentation. (MW)
Speak badly of or tell lies about (someone) so as to damage their reputation. (OD)
To speak ill of, falsely or maliciously; to defame, malign, vilify, slander; to blame, censure. To expose to contempt; to bring discredit upon; to dishonor, disgrace. (OED)
traducement (noun)
Tragedy of the Commons (economic theory)
A term used to describe a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action. The concept and phrase originated in an essay written in 1833 by the British economist William Forster Lloyd, who used a hypothetical example of the effects of unregulated grazing on common land (also known as a "common") in the British Isles. The concept became widely known over a century later due to an article written by the American ecologist and philosopher Garrett Hardin in 1968. In this modern economic context, commons is taken to mean any shared and unregulated resource such as atmosphere, oceans, rivers, fish stocks, or even an office refrigerator. (Wikipedia)
tranche (noun)
A portion of something, especially money. (OD)
One of the parts into which a particular financial arrangement, payment, investment, etc. is divided. (CD)
treacle (noun) or black treacle
Chiefly British
treacle (noun) or black treacle
Chiefly British
A blend of molasses, invert sugar (a mixture of glucose and fructose), and corn syrup, used as syrup. (MW)
A thick, sticky dark syrup made from partly refined sugar; molasses. (NOA)
A thick, sticky dark syrup made from partly refined sugar; molasses. (NOA)
The thick dark sticky liquid that remains after the crystallization and removal of sugar from extracts of sugar-cane or sugar-beet. Also called black treacle. (Chambers Dictionary)
Difference with molasses: Both have a deep, aromatic flavor that adds a unique finish to food and drink recipes, but they are subtly different, with treacle tending to be a sweeter product that has less of a bitter profile than molasses. Compared to treacle, molasses is thicker in consistency and darker in color. (Ragus.co.uk)
trope (noun)
A common or overused theme or device; cliche (MW)
A significant or recurrent theme, especially in a literary or cultural context; a motif. (OED)
truffery (noun)
A thing of no importance; a trifle, a triviality. (OED)
See: falderal
Note: OED lists this term as obsolete and rare. But it is so perfect in meaning and sound that we'll have to find a use for it.
twilight (noun)
A period of decline. (MW)
A period or state of obscurity, ambiguity, or gradual decline. (OD)
Any late period, when the end of something is near. (CD)
A period in which strength, importance, etc., are waning. A condition or period of gradual decline following full development, achievement, glory, etc. (CDC)
trope (noun)
A common or overused theme or device; cliche (MW)
A significant or recurrent theme, especially in a literary or cultural context; a motif. (OED)
truffery (noun)
A thing of no importance; a trifle, a triviality. (OED)
See: falderal
Note: OED lists this term as obsolete and rare. But it is so perfect in meaning and sound that we'll have to find a use for it.
twilight (noun)
A period of decline. (MW)
A period or state of obscurity, ambiguity, or gradual decline. (OD)
Any late period, when the end of something is near. (CD)
A period in which strength, importance, etc., are waning. A condition or period of gradual decline following full development, achievement, glory, etc. (CDC)