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As a U.S. English speaker, I don’t associate the word cooperate with compliance or submissiveness at all.

by sumy23 4y ago

fleetwoodsnack 4y ago
It might be generational. Cooperative usually meant “works well with others,” where I’ve studied and worked. These types usually have a handle on themselves and are looked-at to lead sometimes. If I may follow the grandparent commentor and provide an unsubstantiated thought: the heads-up angle may suffer from being double-edged; it may indicate someone who suffers from excess self-esteem. From experience, these types are harder to deal with because many times one has to help them relieve themselves of their ego first, before anything substantive can be accomplished. Sometimes, especially as we age, the juice is simply not worth the squeeze and we’d rather just work with someone who is better ready to work together.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  > heads-up angle may suffer from being double-edged; it may indicate someone who suffers from excess self-esteem. From experience, these types are harder to deal with because many times one has to help them relieve themselves of their ego first, before anything Sure, there's a definite line between heads-up and a cocky nose-in-the-air. As another commenter said, it's more than just head angle, you need to consider face expression and eye position too. The expression "looking down at people" is probably captured in precisely that ratio of head-eye angle that gives off haughtiness, and the "chad" comic posted above sums up the excess of other body language that makes one send out "I'm a dick" signals.
nonrandomstring 4y ago
Interesting. Perhaps that's how it comes across on this side of the Atlantic. I've heard so many times American police or forces say something like "We had to open fire when they failed to cooperate". In fact I heard that so many times on TV as kid in the 1970s and 1980s that I considered "capitulate" as a drop-in replacement for "cooperate". Only later did I revise the meaning as something that happens between parties on an equal power footing. I guess that's what happens when people misuse words as a euphemistic way to soften intentions and behaviours - like "collateral damage" and so on, and then that culture gets exported through popular media.
- sumy23 4y ago
  Forced cooperation with police is definitely a usage of cooperate. If you’re only exposure to U.S. English is popular media, then I could see how you associate cooperate with a police context. However, I don’t think that’s the first thing people in the U.S. think of when they hear the word.

As a U.S. English speaker, I don’t associate the word cooperate with compliance or submissiveness at all.

by sumy23 4y ago

As a U.S. English speaker, I don’t associate the word cooperate with compliance or submissiveness at all.

It might be generational. Cooperative usually meant “works well with others,” where I’ve studied and worked. These types usually have a handle on themselves and are looked-at to lead sometimes. If I may follow the grandparent commentor and provide an unsubstantiated thought: the heads-up angle may suffer from being double-edged; it may indicate someone who suffers from excess self-esteem. From experience, these types are harder to deal with because many times one has to help them relieve themselves of their ego first, before anything substantive can be accomplished. Sometimes, especially as we age, the juice is simply not worth the squeeze and we’d rather just work with someone who is better ready to work together.

nonrandomstring 4y ago
> heads-up angle may suffer from being double-edged; it may indicate someone who suffers from excess self-esteem. From experience, these types are harder to deal with because many times one has to help them relieve themselves of their ego first, before anything Sure, there's a definite line between heads-up and a cocky nose-in-the-air. As another commenter said, it's more than just head angle, you need to consider face expression and eye position too. The expression "looking down at people" is probably captured in precisely that ratio of head-eye angle that gives off haughtiness, and the "chad" comic posted above sums up the excess of other body language that makes one send out "I'm a dick" signals.

nonrandomstring 4y ago

Interesting. Perhaps that's how it comes across on this side of the Atlantic. I've heard so many times American police or forces say something like "We had to open fire when they failed to cooperate". In fact I heard that so many times on TV as kid in the 1970s and 1980s that I considered "capitulate" as a drop-in replacement for "cooperate". Only later did I revise the meaning as something that happens between parties on an equal power footing. I guess that's what happens when people misuse words as a euphemistic way to soften intentions and behaviours - like "collateral damage" and so on, and then that culture gets exported through popular media.

sumy23 4y ago
Forced cooperation with police is definitely a usage of cooperate. If you’re only exposure to U.S. English is popular media, then I could see how you associate cooperate with a police context. However, I don’t think that’s the first thing people in the U.S. think of when they hear the word.