The word nonplussed derives from the Latin phrase non plus, meaning “no more”. The emotion of being nonplussed refers to the feeling of being brought to a standstill in which one doesn’t know how to move forward because the way ahead makes no sense.
To be nonplussed an uncertain emotion, usually thought of as being caused by a perplexity – another old Latin concept. A perplexity is a condition of having one’s thoughts completely tangled together. It’s what happens when our lines of logic cross each other, a block beyond which reasoning is unable to go, a mental Gordian Knot. The nonplussed stand, like generations of Phrygians standing before the knot, wondering at the intricacy of their tangled thoughts. The way forward may be to act like Alexander the Great, cutting the thoughts apart rather than attempting to understand their connections, disregarding reason under the force of simple desire to act.
An alternative twist on the word nonplussed has arisen in the United States, where it often is used to refer to the feeling of being unperturbed by what is a vexing perplexity for others. The typical reaction is to state that Americans are misusing the word because they’re somehow confused by the way it sounds, as if a person isn’t bothered by what they face.
The linguistic division between the British and the Americans over what it means to be nonplussed may come down to a cultural difference that causes a different emotional reaction to situations in which rational problem solving is stymied. Perhaps, when Americans are nonplussed, their reaction is more of an incurious shrug than a stammering fixation on the bind. The emotion, though it has the same fundamental context, thus merely takes on divergent tones on either side of the Atlantic.
