Definition of Vehemence – What it is, Meaning and Concept

The Latin term vehement arrived in Castilian as vehemence. This concept refers to the property of vehement: that has a lot Energy, strength, momentum or burning. For example: “The young man vehemently defended his father, tired of the accusations”, “The Chilean midfielder hit the ball vehemently and scored his team’s third goal”, “I need a manager who vehemently disseminates the values ​​of this company among employees”.

The vehemence can appear in different areas. A person can speak vehemently, using a raised tone of voice or Screaming with the intention of emphasizing your ideas or imposing yourself on others in an argument. Suppose a man is angry with his son 13 years because he found it smoking despite the fact that he had forbidden such action, explaining the damage caused by this habit. The father vehemently condemns the boy’s behavior, details all the negative consequences that smoking can have on his health, and punishes him by preventing him from using his video game console for a month.

Vehemence in oratory

When we speak of vehemence in the context of oratory, it is a trait that allows us to print in our words a dose of passion out of the ordinary, thanks to which we can make them reach the interlocutors with more intensity. A passionate speech can remain forever etched in the memory of the audience, influencing people to the point of changing their lives, leading them to make decisions that they previously believed impractical.

This force, this fire that characterizes vehemence is important in all areas of life; It is one of the two extremes of the energy with which we move, the other being absolute calm, the lack of motivation. Of course, if all the people spoke and always acted in this way, it would no longer have any impact on anyone, and that is why it is necessary that a few people help to articulate the groups with these peaks of tension when it comes to expressing themselves.

Lack of reflection

Vehemence can also be an act that is carried out without prior reflection. In this case, the notion is linked to impulsive or impetuous action. A woman who sees a child drowning in the river can throw himself into the water to try to save it, without thinking about the force of the current or the risks to his own life. In such a case, this person would be acting vehemently in a desperate situation.

In the midst of an emergency, it is often necessary for us to let ourselves be carried away by impulses and to act without reflecting, since in general the time to make decisions is very short. Furthermore, when we proceed vehemently in the midst of a life or death situation we tend to have more force and dexterity than normal, by which we become capable of performing actions that exceed our own abilities.

Concept of vehemence in everyday language

Another possibility is that vehemence is present in the physical strength of a movement or of a action. Striking a nail vigorously involves applying a lot of force to each strike.

It should be noted that this term is not usually part of everyday speech, at least not in most areas. Although there are those who use it in their conversations, it is much more common to find it in written language. For example, it is not normal to describe an action as trivial as hammering a nail using this word to indicate the force of the blows, unless the issuer tries to refer to the state emotional of the person, to background situations that influence their mood.