Gus and BooBear asked about this phrase. Both words “cool” and “collected” share the synonym “calm.” Cool in this sense has the connotation of clear judgment that is not influenced by emotion. Collected carries the sense of inner calm that has taken conscious effort.
The opposite of these terms is “distracted,” from Middle English, derived from Latin distractus, to draw apart. In other words, one has focus when one is “cool and collected” rather than having the focus drawn to something else. One is self-possessed rather than allowing something else to “possess” one. Interesting.
According to the OED, “collected” is used figuratively to mean having thoughts and feelings in order. In American usage, “collected” means self-possessed as the first definition. The OED shows that the first usage of collected as figurative is by Shakespeare in The Tempest (1610 or 1611 and possibly the last play he wrote): “Be collected. No more amazement” (I. ii. 13—Prospero to Miranda who is feeling distracted by the shipwreck, not knowing that Prospero has magically manipulated the entire situation).
It seems to me that the phrase is derived from a literally physical sensation. When one feels angry or emotional, one feels distracted and warm…hot under the collar, in fact. Now there’s another interesting phrase.
In horse parlance:
ReplyDeleteCollection is a state of balanced energy. A horse that is collected will have a dropped croup, engaged hindquarters, flexed abdominals, arched spine, and elevated head and neck, and a flexed poll. When a horse works in collected gaits, he is working at the same tempo as the working gait but he will have a shorter, more elevated stride and will cover less ground than a working gait.
Eileen: That's interesting! Is there a term for "working gait"? B
ReplyDeleteOnly term is "working gait". Means more ground-covering and less impulsion (upward movement).
ReplyDelete