# Word of the Day: vicarious



## Em in Ohio

Definition:  Experienced in ones imagination rather than directly


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## Rosemarie

Em in Ohio....it seems as though America and Britain have different meanings for certain words. According to my Odhams Dictionary 'vicarious' means a substitute. 

The young doctor was acting vicariously, while his superior was away on vacation.


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## Em in Ohio

Rosemarie said:


> Em in Ohio....it seems as though America and Britain have different meanings for certain words. According to my Odhams Dictionary 'vicarious' means a substitute.
> 
> The young doctor was acting vicariously, while his superior was away on vacation.


That's precisely why the site management wanted to promote this activity - because we are an international crowd, often with our own interpretations of words.  Thanks so much for pointing this out!


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## Matrix

I take vicarious pleasure in my son’s soccer matches.


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## Matrix

Groupies live the rock 'n' roll dream vicariously.


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## Kaila

When people watch movies, if they become absorbed,
they likely have the _vicarious_ feelings of being one of the lead characters,
as if they themselves, the viewers , are having those experiences, first-hand, that not even the actors are truly having.


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## Kaila

It's the goal of good acting, to evoke those vicarious feelings?


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## RadishRose

I live vicariously by good tales related to me by others.


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## RadishRose

Rosemarie said:


> Em in Ohio....it seems as though America and Britain have different meanings for certain words. According to my Odhams Dictionary 'vicarious' means a substitute.
> 
> The young doctor was acting vicariously, while his superior was away on vacation.


Sounds like the same thing...?


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## Kaila

Instead of taking a math course, herself, she enrolled her nephew, for the vicarious feeling of satisfaction.


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## Em in Ohio

RadishRose said:


> Sounds like the same thing...?


I've never heard it used this way in the USA.  Have you?  I'm curious to see if the Odhams Dictionary is online.  To me, her sentence seems like its used 'as a substitute.'


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## Em in Ohio

Watching Star Trek offers me the thrills of deep space travel vicariously and I often write myself into the scripts in my dreams.


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## Kaila

Seems very similar , if not the same, to me as well, @RadishRose   and  @Em in Ohio

where the *feeling *from actual actions, are *substituted* by feelings of identifying with _others_ who are the ones who truly _carry out_ those actions, and by _imagining _themselves in their place.

Unless the U.K. common usage often has a different leaning connotation,

OR, in that example above,
Was that young doctor performing the same tasks and doing the actions of the superior doctor,?
and not simply, feeling like he's the supervisor, perhaps including the supervisor's attitude or tone???

Sorry, I let this thread get off-track.  (But the dictionary in question is a hardbound version.)


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## Em in Ohio

Receiving postcards from friends on vacation in faraway places allows me to share in their adventures vicariously.


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## Sliverfox

When reading a good novel I get carried vicariously into the  story  that I cry   at the  sad parts.


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## Ruthanne

When I see others having a good time I, too, have a good time *vicariously*.


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## RadishRose

Em in Ohio said:


> I've never heard it used this way in the USA.  Have you?  I'm curious to see if the Odhams Dictionary is online.  To me, her sentence seems like its used 'as a substitute.'


Yes, but aren't we substituting another person's enjoyment for our own when we say we took vicarious pleasure in whatever? I'm not sure.....


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## Matrix

Is this a perfect example of vicarious living?

The most rated comment on this video is "I have no clue why I'm watching these video's... I can barely pay rent let alone afford any kind of flight/vacation."


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## Em in Ohio

Definitely a vicarious experience for me that is beyond the realm of possibility.

This comes to mind:

opulent
ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish.
"the opulent comfort of a limousine"


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## ohioboy

In Law there is a doctrine known as "Vicarious liability".


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## Kaila

Vicarious liability, is a very interesting concept.


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## Aunt Marg

So would it be safe to say that virtual insanity, is the result of ones imagination?


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## ohioboy

Kaila said:


> Vicarious liability, is a very interesting concept.


Also known as "Imputed" liability. Similar to the "Master - Servant"
doctrine in employment law, "Respondeat Superior". The master is responsible for the actions of his employee (case law varies).


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## Kaila

Would legal _vicarious or imputed liability,_
be strictly if one employs or pays another to do their dirty work?

Or is it also applied to someone who has other types of influence over, or possible responsibility for another's actions,
And,  would it ever also be applied to simply knowing about someone else's plan or action, and not trying actively to thwart it?


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## ohioboy

Kaila said:


> Would legal _vicarious or imputed liability,_
> be strictly if one employs or pays another to do their dirty work?
> 
> Or is it also applied to someone who has other types of influence over, or possible responsibility for another's actions,
> And,  would it ever also be applied to simply knowing about someone else's plan or action, and not trying actively to thwart it?



Exact details matter, but here is an example of an OSC case concerning "Intentional Torts" committed by an employee and imputed to the employer.

https://casetext.com/case/blankenship-v-cincinnati-milacron-chemicals


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## Gaer

I loved Em's definition because that's ME!  I live in my mind
But I looked it up in my American Heritge dictionary and it says "Acting in place of someone or something else, feeling as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another."

I wish there WERE a word that means,"Experienced in one's imagination rather than directly."
There should be a word for that!


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## Aunt Marg

I miss Em's, company on the forum.


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