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Knack vs Tact - What's the difference?

knack | tact |

As nouns the difference between knack and tact

is that knack is a traditional swedish toffee prepared at christmas while tact is the sense of touch; feeling.

As verbs the difference between knack and tact

is that knack is while tact is (psychology) to use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

knack

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity.
  • * 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
    • The sophist runs for conver to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
  • *{{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 2 , author=Jonathan Jurejko , title=Bolton 1–5 Chelsea , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=And the Premier League's all-time top-goalscoring midfielder proved he has not lost the knack of being in the right place at the right time with a trio of clinical finishes.}}
  • A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack.
  • Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device.

    • References

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete, UK, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
    • (Bishop Hall)
  • To speak affectedly.
    • (Halliwell)

    tact

    English

    (wikipedia tact) (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The sense of touch; feeling.
  • *
    • Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?
  • * J. Le Conte
    • Now, sight is a very refined tact .
  • (music) The stroke in beating time.
  • Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
  • *
    • He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.
  • *
    • A tact' which surpassed the '''tact''' of her sex as much as the '''tact''' of her sex surpassed the ' tact of ours.
  • The ability to deal with embarrassing situations carefully and without doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people; careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense; the ability to say the right thing.
    • By the use of tact , she was able to calm her jealous husband.
    I used tact when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better.
  • (psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
  • * 2013 , Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment
    • Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.

    Derived terms

    * tactful * tactless

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

    • External links

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