gingerly
to do something very carefully
TRANSLATION
gingerly = behutsam, umsichtig, vorsichtig —— to pick sth. up gingerly = etw. sehr vorsichtig anfassen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
“The robots, which cost £2m to develop, stand 1.8 metres tall and each is fitted with four 3D-printed plastic arms that simultaneously pick raspberries – among the hardest fruit to pick, as they are softer than other berries and grow on tall bushes at varying heights.
When the first iteration of the robot went on trial in the UK three years ago, it had one harvesting arm that GINGERLY approached the fruit and took a full minute to pick and deposit a berry into a basket. Since then its sensor technology and grippers have been completely redesigned to reduce slippage and harvesting time.”
Julia Kollewe – in The Guardian – “World’s first raspberry picking robot cracks the toughest nut: soft fruit” (1 June 2022)
Did you
know?
gingerly
adverb
- If you do something gingerly, you do it in a careful manner, usually because you expect it to be dangerous, unpleasant, or painful.
Collins English Dictionary
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ORIGIN
The first recorded instance of “gingerly” was in 1594, it may have derived from the name of the spice ginger.
Another theory is that it’s related to the Old French word gensor meaning “delicate”.
By the 17th century “gingerly” had changed its meaning to apply to movements that were cautious in order to avoid being noisy or causing harm, and also to a careful manner in handling or presenting ideas.
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THE GENIUS OF CHURCHILL
At a dinner for Commonwealth dignitaries one evening, British PM Winston Churchill was approached by the Chief-of-Protocol and quietly informed that one of the distinguished guests had slipped a silver salt shaker into his pocket.
At the end of the meal, Churchill GINGERLY approached the offender and produced the matching pepper shaker from his own pocket. “Oh, dear, we were seen,” he said. “Perhaps we had both better put them back.”
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SYNONYMS
attentively, carefully, cautiously, charily, charmingly, circumspectly, considerately, daintily, delicately, gently, handling with kid gloves, heedfully, lightly, lovingly, mindfully, skilfully, softly, softly-softly, soothingly, tenderly
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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:
“I suggest you handle the new Chairman very GINGERLY, he is known to have an explosive temper.”
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