Not to be confused with a free thinker. A believer is a bird in a cage, a Freethinker is an eagle parting the clouds with tireless wing -- Robert Green Ingersoll (1833 - 1899) by JoeBloggs April 10, 2005
Confidence votes 319K. The French to English translation for the word 'detente' is 'relaxation'. The word can also mean lessening, thaw, or trigger. There is also a detente in Spanish, which can mean detain, arrest, or restrain.
The sense of the word retract meaning to draw back or withdraw comes from the mid-16th century, and its meaning was clear when Napoleon Bonaparte said, In politics...never retreat, never retract...never admit a mistake.. Still, sometimes you wish you could retract something you said or did. Cats can retract their claws, and some snakes can retract their fangs, but words spoken in anger can never be fully retracted, or taken back.