# The diffident British stance **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817 "2022-03-28T02:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/1 "2022-03-28T02:31:34Z")
In reply to Haig’s report that Thatcher has decided to use force to expel the Argentinians on the Falklands, President Reagan mentioned that: It’s my guess from **the diffident British stance** that any compromise on Thatcher’s part will take time. If that’s true the closure of the British submarines is all the more worrisome. ([Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XIII, Conflict in the South Atlantic, 1981–1984 - Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1981-88v13/d85)) What does **the diffident British stance** mean? I don’t understand why Reagan used “diffident” to describe the British stance? Thank you in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/2 "2022-03-28T02:42:18Z")
In context, it sounds like the British reaction about the terms of the compromise referred “diffident” as in hesitant or reserved, not as in shy. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/3 "2022-03-28T02:46:03Z")
“Diffident” means lacking in trust or faith; full of doubt. In the context, my first guess would be that Thatcher did not trust assurances, promises or statements of intent offered by or on behalf of the Argentinian government, and this was making a negotiated settlement more difficult, and recourse to force more likely. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/4 "2022-03-28T02:48:00Z")
BTW, @cannonkuo, when you use an exact quote from someone from a cite, as you appear to have done with a quote by Reagan in your original post, it’s a good idea to put the other person’s quotation in quotation marks. Doing so makes it clear to anyone who reads your post that the phrase is an exact quote, not just your own words. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/5 "2022-03-28T03:04:17Z")
Thank you for your advice. I’ll keep that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/6 "2022-03-28T03:04:55Z")
Thank you, Kent\_Clark. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/7 "2022-03-28T03:05:23Z")
Thank you, UDS1. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/8 "2022-03-28T03:45:35Z")
A bit more textual context might clarify, too. How does one “close submarines”, or is that some shorthand reference to some detail in Haig’s report? ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/9 "2022-03-28T07:40:27Z")
I think the phrase “closure of the British submarines” might be in sense of approaching the Falklands (closing in on) rather than shutting down. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/10 "2022-03-28T08:28:36Z")
Yes, that fits. So in the rather oblique way the quote puts it, Reagan was saying the signs were that the British weren’t in a mood for compromise, or at least not for whatever Haig might have proposed. Which was pretty much the case. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/11 "2022-03-30T02:38:17Z")
Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diffident-british-stance/961817/12 "2022-03-30T15:11:48Z")
I’ve heard people use “diffident” when they meant “defiant.” Reagan could have done that here. No way to know, of course.