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Q&A What semantic notions underlie "pull, drag" (in tractō) 🡒 "negotiate, bargain" (in 'treat')?

I revamped Serious-Telephone142's answer for grammar. Negotiation involves a metaphorical pushing and pulling, a give and take. This sense is preserved in the modern English word 'intractable,' ...

posted 3y ago by PSTH‭

Answer
#1: Initial revision by user avatar PSTH‭ · 2022-01-20T04:19:48Z (almost 3 years ago)
I revamped [Serious-Telephone142](https://old.reddit.com/user/Serious-Telephone142)'s [answer](https://old.reddit.com/r/classics/comments/s79itk/what_semantic_notions_underlie_pull_drag_in/htbt7w3/) for grammar.

>Negotiation involves a metaphorical pushing and pulling, a give and take. This sense is preserved in the modern English word 'intractable,' referring to someone who refuses to be pulled (so to speak) on an issue.
>
>It is not such a leap from the idea of attempting to physically pull a thing to the second idea, i.e., of trying to pull a person towards your own position.
>
>Final note: part of the confusion may be that _negotiate/bargain_ are often used as reciprocal verbs, as in, "two people bargain with each other". But _bargain_ at least can be used as simple transitive as well: eg, to _bargain_ someone down. Basically, there are two semantic shifts here, though understanding this second one is not crucial to answering this question.