Usually, when people use the word, they condemn the action. For example, a child loves sweets, and dad or mom buy him more and more. In the end, he is gaining weight. What are they doing? They indulge, this is obvious. But the word is not as simple as it seems. We will understand the meaning of the verb, its synonyms and subtleties.
Origin
The object of research cannot be called simple, therefore, to really understand it, you need to turn to the etymological dictionary. Let's see what is said about the origin of the verb “indulge”, this will help us in the future.
In the Old Russian language there was such a verb "takati", which is based on the word "taco" or "so." The latter is well known to us. It meant the now-disappearing verb of approval. Literally interpreted, “takati” is to say “like that” all the time.
Echoes of the origin of the object of study can be found in modern everyday life. For example, when people are talking, one can always say the word “like this,” listening carefully to the story. That is, in this way, one person tells his friend: “go on, I hear you.” And here you can find ancient roots, if you know about their existence.
Value
To understand how the verb feels today, you need to put aside the etymological dictionary and turn to sensible. What is hidden in it that is interesting to us? Find out now.
“Indulging” is the same as “indulging”. The situation is hopeless. We need to linger a bit and find out the meaning of the verb “indulge”. Let us reveal its meaning: “not to interfere, to be indulgent (to something reprehensible, negative).”
Finally, the object of research revealed to us its true face. In fact, this verb is bad and good in its way, as a rule, does not occur. But we will talk about the ambiguity in the interpretation of the object of study and in different contexts in the final. In the meantime, we only say that sometimes the vocabulary meaning of the word “indulge” is one thing, and linguistic practice is another. People are not always fair to each other, so the verb is forced to perform strange functions.
Synonyms
Perhaps a little disappointing for the state, but the words that came from European languages are closer and clearer to us than our Old Russian ones, because the latter need more explanation than the former. But these are the realities.
If it will be easier for the reader, then we say that students of Old English also almost do not read Shakespeare, and we have translations of B. L. Pasternak and S. Ya. Marshak. Native speakers (English is meant) can even envy us slightly. Why is this all? Moreover, the synonyms of “indulge” are not an appendage, but a necessary tool for understanding the meaning of the object of study. Without them, it would be difficult. So the list:
- indulge;
- to condone;
- liberalize;
- make concessions;
- to be condescending.
The third item on the list needs clarification. In general, liberalism has long been out of favor with us for a long time. A liberal is almost a curse. But, of course, our plans do not include immersion in political abysses. I must say that liberalism also has a everyday meaning. It is represented in the explanatory dictionary by the second meaning: "excessive tolerance, condescension, harmful connivance." The word is beautiful, it may be useful to the reader. He can show them in a decent society.
Is it worth it to indulge?
We found out that indulging is what it is. Now you can philosophize a bit on the context of the use of the verb. But let the reader remain calm, we do not torture him to death with reasoning.
Sometimes the object of study is used in a strange context. For example, there are people who believe that reading books is stupid, harmful occupation. Therefore, the child is better not to indulge when his hand reaches for the book. But it may be obvious to others that reading is much better than, for example, watching TV or videos that flooded the Internet.
You can, of course, argue about tastes, but when reading a person is still more concentrated, even if, relatively speaking, he reads “bad” books. Sitting in front of the monitor is a lot worse.
Therefore, the answer to the question in the title is predictable: a lot depends on the situation and the subject of human interest. Sometimes indulging is the only right decision. But in general, as the reader probably understood, the word is colored in a negative tone.