balked
In context
At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. BB p.58 ¶3
Here: In 1939 balked meant to stop short and refuse to go further, to shy away from a thing instead of proceeding. In the passage, the early members hesitated and resisted at some of the steps they were being asked to take.
In 1939 the word had two living senses. The intransitive one, "To stop short and stand still; to refuse to proceed" (Webster's Collegiate, 5th ed., 1939), was the sense of a horse that stops at a fence, and the 1923 New International gives "to stop short and refuse to go" with the example "the horse balks." The transitive senses, "To check or frustrate; foil; disappoint," were also current. The 1923 New International marks the older transitive sense of avoiding or shirking as "Obsoles., except fig." The Big Book's use has no object ("we balked" at something), so it is the intransitive sense of stopping short and refusing.
The word has not shifted much since. Balk is still used for a person who hangs back at a demand, usually followed by at. What has faded is the horse picture behind it, and the pitcher's balk in baseball, which both dictionaries list, is now the better-known sense. The dictionaries do not say how common the intransitive sense was in everyday 1939 speech, so that is not settled here.
Read in its 1939 sense, the line is about stubbornness more than disagreement. The early members did not argue the steps down. They came up to them and stopped, like a balky animal that will not take the next stride. This fits what follows: "We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not." To balk is to refuse to go forward, and the passage then says what refusing costs.
Usages
- 12&12 p.108 “At Step Six, many of us balked—for the practical reason that we did not wish to have all our defects of character removed”
- 12&12 p.44 ¶2 “Instincts on rampage balk at investigation.”
- “the horse balks” — Webster's New International (1923)
- “To stop short and stand still; to refuse to proceed.” — Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition (1939 printing)
- He talked boldly about change, but when he was asked to call his brother he balked. illustration, written for this note
- The mule balked at the creek and no coaxing would move it. illustration, written for this note
- Most of the class balked when the teacher announced a test on the first day. illustration, written for this note
Written by Claude (sonnet) from the dictionaries and passages of the lookup; every quotation in it was checked against them, and what could not be found was left out. A study aid, not a source.
The dictionaries of 1939
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
balked \balked, adj.
- Same as baffled. Syn. baffled, discomfited, discouraged, frustrated. (a later addition to GCIDE — WordNet 1.5 — not in the 1913 text)
Balk \Balk, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Balked (ba̤kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Balking.] [From Balk a beam; orig. to put a balk or beam in one's way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.]
- To leave or make balks in. [Obs.] —Gower.
- To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. [Obs.] Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see. —Shak.
- To omit, miss, or overlook by chance. [Obs.]
- To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk. [Obs. or Obsolescent] By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns. —Evelyn. Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat. —Bp. Hall. Nor doth he any creature balk, But lays on all he meeteth. —Drayton.
- To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart; as, to balk expectation. They shall not balk my entrance. —Byron.
— Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), the
[1913 Webster]text of GCIDE on dict.org
The dictionary on a 1939 desk was Webster's Second New International (1934), in copyright until 2030; the Collegiate above is its 1939 abridgment, from a local scan, and the New International of 1923 the unabridged edition before it, public domain. Webster's Revised Unabridged (1913) is the nearest public-domain dictionary online.
Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
BALK'ED, participle passive Plowed in ridges between furrows, as in American husbandry. 2., Frustrated; disappointed. — Webster's 1828
WordNet 3.0 (Princeton, 2006)
- noun 1: the area on a billiard table behind the balkline — “a player with ball in hand must play from the balk” [syn: balk, baulk]
- noun 2: something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress [syn: hindrance, hinderance, deterrent, impediment, balk, baulk, check, handicap]
- noun 3: one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof [syn: rafter, balk, baulk]
- noun 4: an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
- verb 1: refuse to comply [syn: resist, balk, baulk, jib]
— WordNet 3.0 on dict.org
In the Book 3
Alcoholics Anonymous 1
- BB p.58 ¶3 At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command,…
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions 2
- 12&12 p.44 ¶2 …dreams of pomp and power. This perverse soul-sickness is not pleasant to look upon. Instincts on rampage balk at investigation. The minute we make a serious attempt to probe them, we are
- 12&12 p.108 …with our conflicts, and in honesty confide these to God and another human being. At Step Six, many of us balked—for the practical reason that we did not wish to have all our defects of character removed, because we still…
Linked from
- BB p.58 ¶3 “balked”