altercation
noun

- a loud argument or disagreement

- a noisy, heated, angry dispute

- a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public

Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Oxford Languages

—
WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of "altercation" has Latin roots from altercatio, which means "dispute" or "debate" This noun derives from the verb altercari, meaning "to dispute with another" or "to wrangle”.

Breaking down altercari further: alter = "other" (one of two), and -cari = verbal suffix related to speaking or arguing.

So etymologically, "altercation" literally means something like "speaking back and forth with another person" or an "exchange between two parties."

The term entered English in the late Middle English period (around the 14th-15th centuries) via Old French altercacion. It has maintained its core meaning of a heated or angry dispute or disagreement throughout its history in English, though its original Latin usage sometimes had a more neutral connotation of simply debating or discussing.

—
HOW WE FIGHT

Most altercations don’t begin with fists. They begin with tone. A raised eyebrow, a sigh loaded with meaning, or the kind of “okay” that actually means “not okay at all.” While Hollywood wants us to believe that conflict explodes in bar brawls or courtroom shouting matches, the most common form of altercation is far more… mundane. Think kitchen. Think office. Think driving.

One of history’s most underrated altercations? The feud between Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke — a grudge that led Newton to erase Hooke’s face from a group portrait. Today, we have cancel culture; Newton simply “forgot” Hooke existed.

We’ve come to realise that most altercations are less about issues and more about egos. Spotting the first spark of an altercation — not the fire — is what's important. The sooner we name the game, the sooner we can change it.

Helga & Paul Smith

—
SYNONYMS
for “verbal altercation”:

acrimonious/angry exchange, ALTERCATION, argument, argy-bargy, at odds, bad vibes, bandy words (with somebody), bang/bump/butt heads, barney, battle of words, battle royal, bawl out, be at daggers drawn, be at daggers/loggerheads with, be at each other's throats, be at loggerheads (at odds, at sixes and sevens, at variance, in conflict with, in disagreement, be pitted against, be quarreling), beef, berate, bicker, bickering, bite someone's head off, blow-off, bone to pick, break a lance, brouhaha, call on the carpet, carp, catfight, cause a scene, clash, clash (against, with, of views), conflict of opinions (of views), confrontation, contentious exchange, contretemps, cross swords cross words, disaccord, disagreement, discord, dissention, dogfight, donnybrook, drag into an argument, duel of words, dustup, exchange heated words, face-off, falling-out, feud, fight with words, fighting match of words and wits., flap, flare-up, fracas, free-for-all, fuss, get bent out of shape (in one's face), give someone a piece of your mind, gloves are off, go at it hammer and tongs, go one-on-one, hammer away, have at it, have words, heated discussion (exchange, words), imbroglio, jumping down someone's throat, let off steam, lock horns, melee, no love lost, on the warpath, quarrel, quibble, rub it in, ruction, rumpus, scrap, set-to, shouting/slanging match, sock it to, spat, spoiling for a fight, squabble, squabbling, stick it to, take someone to task, tiff, to-do, tongue-lashing, trading insults, verbal abuse (assault, attack, battle, beef, brawl, clash, combat, confrontation, dispute, duel, exchange, fight, fracas, hostilities, sparring, swordplay, tangle, warfare, wrestling), war of words, wrangle

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“Probably the best way to avoid an ALTERCATION is to take a deep breath and to keep one’s mouth firmly closed.”

—
P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga—my lovely wife and coaching partner, and our eagle-eyed daughter, Jennifer.

It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul, Helga, & Jenny Smith

- Feedback, questions, new word suggestions to: paul@smith.de

- OWAD homepage, word archive, FAQs, publications, events, and more: www.owad.de

---

- to unsubscribe from OWAD, CLICK HERE