The Hindu Business Line : Let's discuss `dismiss'

FEBRUARY has begun on a dismal dismissal note. In Nepal, the monarch dismissed democracy; in Goa, dismissal came after a government scraped through a controversial confidence vote; in Iraq, Sunni clerics have dismissed Iraqi vote as lacking in legitimacy; and in New York, a lawyer is pressing for the dismissal of a bio-terrorism case that bizarrely involves bacteria obtained for artwork.

Looks like dismiss is a word we cannot dismiss away, so we'd rather come to terms with it. "Order or allow to leave, send away," is the first meaning of dismiss that catches the eye in Concise Oxford English Dictionary. "Dismiss this audience, and I shall tell you more," promises Biron in Love's Labour's Lost. A practical advice from Measure For Measure reads, "Use him for the present and dismiss him." Ominous First Apparition warns, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough." Cassius philosophises in Julius Caesar, "But life, being weary of these worldly bars, never lacks power to dismiss itself." Is that the power to pack off?

Reporting Othello's instruction, Desdemona would tell her attendant, "He hath commanded me to go to bed, and bade me to dismiss you." That was evidently not a sack order, though we normally understand `dismiss' to mean remove from employment or office. "Dismissed the thievish servant," is an example that Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary offers.

Dismiss also means treat as unworthy of serious consideration, as something unimportant. "Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding," is a quote of Francois de La Rochefoucauld that explains why what is valuable to one may be trash to another. "Re-examine all that you have been told... dismiss that which insults your soul," is a ready-to-use tip from Walt Whitman that can cause less heartache.

Rabindranath Tagore advises freshness in approach: "Do not say, `It is morning,' and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name." That is something to try out the first thing tomorrow. As a cricket term, you dismiss a batsman by getting him out and thus ending his innings.

In law, dismiss is to refuse further hearing in the court. Thus, the day's news is about the Supreme Court dismissing Zee's petition and ruling that BCCI is an autonomous body. "Judge rejects motion to dismiss charges against defrocked priest," reports Boston Herald, while Rocky Mountain News has a story about the University of Colorado asking a federal judge "to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two former students who claim they were raped during a football recruiting party in December 2003".

Dismissals at a lower court are usually appealed against at a forum up in the judicial hierarchy; for instance, closer home, there are appeals before the High Court challenging the dismissal of bail pleas by a sessions court. Duke in The Merchant of Venice seems to have more authority than the court when he declares, "Upon my power I may dismiss this court."

Dismissal is elaborately explained in http://dictionary.law.com: It is "the act of voluntarily terminating a criminal prosecution or a lawsuit or one of its causes of action by one of the parties; a judge's ruling that a lawsuit or criminal charge is terminated; or an appeals court's act of dismissing an appeal, letting the lower court decision stand."

Encarta explains dismiss with an extra line: "Reject with reason: To consider somebody or something as unsuitable for a particular reason. Example, `dismissed the idea as ridiculous'." Dismiss to mean usher out, and thus end one's encounter with somebody is a not-so-common meaning that you can find in some dictionaries. "Dismiss'd me thus, with his speechless hand," is a line from Coriolanus that movies often adopt as a technique.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary's entry for dismiss gives `forget' as one of the meanings; for example, "Just dismiss those thoughts from your mind ."

Let me not dismiss Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage. It has `dismission' sandwiched between dismal and dispatch; the word was "the predecessor of dismissal," but "must now be regarded as a needless variant." The Bard would let Cleopatra use that old word: "You must not stay here longer, your dismission is come from Caesar; therefore hear it, Antony."

You can dismiss suggestions easily, lightly, readily, fairly, unfairly, wrongfully, quickly, out of hand, contemptuously or summarily, as Oxford Collocations suggests. Similarly, dismissal can be automatic, immediate, instant, arrogant, callous, casual, disdainful, easy or summary. "She was very dismissive of his achievements," is an example that should be true for most husbands.

Dismiss is from Old French desmis, and is in turn from Latin dimissus, which is a past participle of dimittere meaning `send away', "from di- `apart, away' + mittere `send, let go'," explains Online Etymology Dictionary. Interestingly, the root mittere has spawned many words. Such as submit, admit, emit, omit, permit, commit, remit, and transmit. Letter sent is missive; message is from Latin missus, past participle of mittere; intermission is from intermissus; mission is from Lation missionem or `act of sending'; and missile is weapon that can be thrown. Surmise, demise, premise and promise too have their origins common to dismiss. Strange relatives to the word under discussion are mess, and mass.

"Mass: `Eucharistic service,' O.E. mæsse, literally `dismissal,' from L.L. missa `dismissal,' fem. pp. of mittere `to let go, send,'" explains www.etymonline.com. "From concluding words of the service, Ite, missa est, `Go, (the prayer) has been sent,' or `Go, it is the dismissal.'" For the dismissed, such as the now-gone Parrikar government of Goa, the remedy, therefore, lies in muttering a prayer and dismissing the same.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Right call, at last

What will the Budget hold?

Sell-off fund — Will it fall victim to petty politics?

Well done, Mr Bush

Let's discuss `dismiss'

Corporates, beware the training robbery

The decline and decline of Brand America

Simplify income tax

Will VAT help?