Literary notes about Committal (AI summary)
The term "committal" has been used in literature in two main ways. On one hand, the adjective "non-committal" characterizes behaviors or language that are evasive or deliberately ambiguous, as seen when characters display an uncertain or hesitant demeanor ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]), or when authors warn against the use of dull, non-committal language ([6]). On the other hand, "committal" as a noun often refers to a formal process or decision, particularly within legal or institutional contexts—the ordering of someone’s committal ([7], [8], [9], [10])—or is used in academic texts to describe grammatical conditions that do not affirm a fact ([11], [12], [13], [14], [15]). This dual application illuminates the rich semantic range of the word in both descriptive and procedural literary settings.
- He looked up, and for a time watched the markedly non-committal attitude of his Chief Inspector.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad - But they evidently expected some recognition, so I waved my arms in a striking sort of non-committal manner.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - She was not offended, but she was non-committal.
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - The man made non-committal noises in his throat and passed on.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The professor examined his drawing in silence, looked at him sharply, and passed on with a non-committal gesture.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
— from The Elements of Style by William Strunk - " "It is not an official report," objected the Commissary, "it is simply an order for committal."
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - Mr. Crawley, you'll make out her committal—and, Beddoes, you'll drive her over in the spring cart, in the morning, to Southampton Gaol.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - (I had come out of Kingston Jail last on a vagrancy committal.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - The result of the committal may be readily foreseen.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - I. Present Condition, Non-committal If this pebble is a diamond , {it is valuable.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Present and past conditions may be either (1) non-committal or (2) contrary to fact .
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Past Condition, Non-committal If that pebble was a diamond , {it was valuable.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - A condition is non-committal when it implies nothing as to the truth or falsity of the case supposed.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Present conditions, 170 ff.; non-committal, 170 f.; contrary to fact, 171 .
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge
