the.com/coward
Knows exactly what's right and does the math on consequences first.
means Someone who backs away from danger, pain, or confrontation when courage is called for.
from Traces to Old French 'coart' or 'couard,' built from 'coe' (tail, from Latin 'cauda') plus a pejorative suffix — likely painting the picture of a frightened animal with its tail tucked between its legs. Some heraldry buffs point to lions drawn with tails curled between legs on old coats of arms as 'cowardly' symbols, though that's more a vivid later association than the word's actual birth.
- not fear
- everyone feels fear, this is about yielding to it
- etymology
- from latin cauda, tail — as in tucking it
- social proof
- survives by calling caution wisdom after the fact