Although the etymological history of the verb esgrimir is not clear, it is believed that the term could derive from the Occitan escremir , linked to the practice of fencing .
The first meaning mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), in this sense, refers to the handling of the sword and other types of bladed weapons. In fencing, a person attacks his opponent with his sword while defending himself from rival attacks.
Precisely, there is the noun fencing , which designates a sport in which two people participate simultaneously using a saber (also called foil ) and wearing a suit that provides protection throughout their bodies, including their faces.
The most common use of the notion, however, is symbolic . Fencing involves using something as a weapon to achieve a certain objective or justify an action. For example: "The young man arrested was quick to argue that he had the right to have a lawyer before making any statement" , "The president of the club resigned without arguing and surprised the members" , "The local team must do its best". version if you want to obtain a positive result .
Fencing, therefore, can be linked to manipulating a physical object or appealing to certain expressions in a certain context . In the first case, we can talk about "wielding a revolver" (if a person pulls a firearm out of his pants and threatens other subjects) or "wielding a knife" (a thief who tries to intimidate his victims with this element). ), to name two possibilities.
In the second case, reference could be made to "wielding criticism" (a journalist who has a negative opinion of a government 's economic plan), "wishing a reflection" (a sociologist analyzing a certain problem), "wishing reasons" (someone justifying a fact), etc.
The uses of the term fencing do not always respond directly to the meaning of "using a resource to achieve a specific objective", but rather make its meaning somewhat more diffuse, bringing it closer to that of verbs such as expose and elaborate , depending on the case. It always has a certain degree of intention in the background, a force that pushes the action towards a goal, even if this is not as defined or clear as obtaining a reward.
Sometimes a vision is put forward about a social problem, or a theory that dismantles the opinions that have existed until now on a given topic, so there is not always an objective as clear as "winning someone's approval", but rather it can be go after self-improvement or invite reflection from the interlocutor.
Although it is a verb widely used in the media, it is not so common in everyday speech and for this reason it is necessary to find some synonyms that can replace it in the context of an informal conversation. Since in this case we have two ways of understanding it, one that refers to a physical action and the other to a symbolic one, we also find two lists of synonyms: on the one hand, we have the verbs handle, challenge, brandish, wield, attack, confront and defend oneself ; With respect to the second meaning, we can replace the word wield with use, employ, argue, appeal, refute and serve .
Given the characteristics of this term, it is logical that it does not have antonyms, since the opposite idea would simply be "not wielding", "not wielding a knife", "not resorting to an argument ". This case is not unique, but there are many words in our language that represent concepts far from the poles, in that they describe actions that do not have an equivalent at the other end, as is the case with "open" or "raise." For example.