Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NETTLE
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(Thanks for the picture, Wikipedia!)
Unlike on a cactus, the spiky bits on a nettle are inconspicuous. You don't notice you're being nettled until you're nettled, and that's extra nettlesome.
One way to define "nettled" is "provoked, out of temper." That's how Captain Grose defines it in his 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Actually, there's a bit more to his definition, but it's too vulgar to quote here; if you're curious enough to look it up, the book is hilariously subtitled A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence.
Another way to define "nettled" is "bothered and annoyed, as if you're being poked with with sharp leaves." Kind of like how g__ded means "bothered and annoyed, as if you're being poked with a stick."
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"NETTLE"
Nettles are edible plants with little hairs that sting you. (After they're cooked, they don't sting.)
To literally nettle people is to beat them with nettles (with plants that have little stinging hairs).
Figuratively, a nettle is something that bothers you, as if it were a plant stinging you, or as if it were someone beating you with stinging plants.
"Nettle" is often a verb, too. When something nettles you, it bothers you, as if it were a plant stinging you--or as if some other person were beating you with stinging plants.
Pronunciation:
NED ull (rhymes with "pedal" and "metal")
Part of speech:
Often a verb, the transitive kind: "it nettles them," "this keeps nettling me."
It's also a noun, the countable kind: "this is such a nettle," "the nettle of faxing paperwork."
Other forms worth knowing:
Nettles, nettled, nettling, nettler(s), nettlesome.
How to use it:
Say that something (or some person) nettles someone: "the question nettled her," "she nettles him with repeated questions."
Or, use the passive voice and say that someone is nettled (or looks nettled, seems nettled, acts nettled, etc.), often by something: "he's nettled by their jokes," "they're nettled by that news."
Very often, when we say that something nettles us, it's some rude, critical, or inappropriate comment or question. But it can be anything vexing or troublesome: thoughts, worries, possibilities, bad weather, other people's quirks, etc.
To use "nettle" as a noun, refer to something as a nettle, or as the nettle of something: "the nettle of poor customer reviews." In fact, a common phrase is "to grasp the nettle," meaning "to deal directly with a vexing problem or issue," as in "to grasp the nettle of public education reform." (Does that sound familiar to you? Recently I shared this quote from Robert Bulwer-Lytton: "The world is a nettle; disturb it, it stings. Grasp it firmly, it stings not.")
examples:
"Young, tall, lean and bearded, Retsos represents a new generation who believes there is plenty of room for improvement if Greece grasps the nettle of reform and modernises."
— The Guardian, 1 July 2017
"Which brings us again to that omnipresent and nettling question: Why? Why would you want to engage in a sport where the only real goal in the long run is to stay alive?"
— Tom Raabe, Sports for the Athletically Impaired, 1993
has this page helped you understand "nettle"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nettle" without saying "vex" or "irritate."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "Expecting _____, (someone) was nettled when _____."
Example: "Expecting her outfit to draw everyone's attention, she was nettled when no one commented on it."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is Distinctive Definitions.
We're taking a scenic slog through poetic and philosophical definitions, wading through similes, metaphors, personifications, hyperboles, grandiloquence, and cheesiness.
In each issue, consider a definition provided by a poet, a writer, or a philosopher, and see if you can name the definiendum: the thing or concept being defined. (Is it life, love, time, death, music, sleep, pain, laughter, bubblegum, stubbing your toe…???) For example, James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) said, "What men call ________ and the Gods call dross." He’s defining something—what is it? "Treasure."
Now, you can play this game in earnest, trying to think of what the poet actually wrote--or you can play it for laughs, supplying the silliest or most sarcastic answer you can muster.
To take the silliness to the next level, gather your friends or family, deal each person a hand of cards from your copy of Apples to Apples (great for kids) or Cards Against Humanity (not for kids!!), and enjoy the ensuing hilarity. (In these games, players take turns being the judge for each round, picking the funniest from everyone’s submissions.) "What men call stretch limos and the Gods call dross." "What men call Morgan Freeman's voice and the Gods call dross."
From the previous issue:
Diogenes Laërtius (3rd century AD) said, "Solon used to say… that _____ were like cobwebs,—for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off."
Answer: Laws.
Try this one today:
Euripides (c 480-406 B.C) said, "_____ will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks."
review this word:
1. The opposite of NETTLE is
A. SALVE.
B. WINNOW.
C. RECIPROCATE.
2. It's a nettling issue, one that we grasp with _____.
A. clarity and insight
B. laughter and a smile
C. reluctance and a wince
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.
(Thanks for the picture, Wikipedia!) Unlike on a cactus, the spiky bits on a nettle are inconspicuous. You don't notice you're being nettled until you're nettled, and that's extra nettlesome.
"NETTLE" Nettles are edible plants with little hairs that sting you. (After they're cooked, they don't sting.)
"Young, tall, lean and bearded, Retsos represents a new generation who believes there is plenty of room for improvement if Greece grasps the nettle of reform and modernises."
Explain the meaning of "nettle" without saying "vex" or "irritate."
Fill in the blanks: "Expecting _____, (someone) was nettled when _____."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The opposite of NETTLE is
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