659: palpable and tangible Sep 27, 2016

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Generally, things that are concrete and physical are easier to understand than things that are abstract. This is notifiable in grammar, for something that is 'palpable' is not something able to be palped (whatever that would mean) but it is able to be felt. Alongside 'palpitation', 'palpable' comes from a Latin verb meaning 'stroke'. A few centuries after adopting that word, English took on the word 'tangible', which comes from Latin's 'tangere' meaning 'to touch'. Both of those words are used to refer to abstract concepts, so long as those concepts are simple enough to seem physically perceived.

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