Timeline for What is the figurative meaning of "butting up against"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 19, 2020 at 18:47 | comment | added | BoldBen | @RicardoBaptista Correct, I was working on a tablet after I'd gone to bed so it was a typo (or an example of officious autocorrect). However it should have been "butting" of course. Please also note that this is a personal opinion so you can't quote me as an authority in a discussion. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 18:37 | comment | added | Ricardo Baptista | Oh, I see, @BoldBen. If I'm not wrong 'bumping up against' would fit this sentence as well as 'butting up against' to describe the unpleasant resulting situation of one ignoring/bypassing an agreement/regulation, but not necessarily implying challenge/defiance as being the underlying motivation for the infringement. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 18:09 | comment | added | Ricardo Baptista | Thanks for all your comments. @BoldBen in your last comment I suppose you meant 'butting up against' the law instead of 'bumping', right? | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 17:15 | comment | added | BoldBen | @I'm not saying tht they are unaware of the laws but that the motivation for the act is to pursue a particular course of action rather than to challenge the establishment or attempt to change things. They know that they are infringing rules but choose to ignore them, however sometimes such actions are taken with the primary aim of challenging or defying the status quo and any practical gain is comparatively incidental. My belief is that the action driven by the latter motivation is a challenge or defiance while that driven by the former motivation results in 'bumping up against' the law. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 15:24 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @BoldBen You're saying that the actors in a country are unaware of international laws, when they may have been involved in disputes for many years? If they're consignatories to say UN, they signed up to obey such laws. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 15:12 | comment | added | BoldBen | @EdwinAshworth For example an industrial worker in the early twentieth century who took a walk on the grouse moors of the English Peak District could be said to have 'butted up against' the laws of trespass but the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout in 1932 was a deliberate challenge to and defiance of the law and a challenge to the landowners. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 15:09 | answer | added | Old Brixtonian | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 15:07 | comment | added | BoldBen | @EdwinAshworth For me "butting up against" in this context has the connotation of the interaction being more incidental to the action than 'confronting'. 'challenging' or 'defying'. There is certainly an element of the perpetrator not recognising the validity of international law and of not caring who they upset but the 'butting up' seems to me to be a consequence of the action whereas confrontation, challenge and defiance seem to be at least part of the reason for taking the action. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 15:06 | comment | added | Hot Licks | In your example you have "against" butting up against "international". | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 14:59 | answer | added | acme_54 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 14:56 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | 'Confronting' seems to bridge the literal ... metaphorical gap quite well. 'Challenging' is getting more direct. 'Defying' is stark, contentious. | |
| Jun 18, 2020 at 14:47 | history | asked | Ricardo Baptista | CC BY-SA 4.0 |