What does the word "suggestion" mean? [closed]
Solution 1:
The ODO defines suggest as
Put forward for consideration
and says that its origins are
Early 16th century: from Latin suggest- ‘suggested, prompted’, from the verb suggerere, from sub- ‘from below’ + gerere ‘bring’.
This does not imply, necessarily, any great commitment by the originator of the suggestion to the solution or course of action being suggested.
In normal use suggest and suggestion can range in meaning from a very vague or even hesitant contribution to a debate such as "This is just a suggestion, but could we look for a simpler solution?" to a very definite proposal such as "I suggest that we take a vote on this!". Paticularly if the hesitant suggestion comes from a junior member of the team and the definite one comes from the person with the highest status.
Making a suggestion does not mean that the person making it is a strong proponent of it, it is even possible to "suggest" something you would not support in order to get others to look at a problem differently, this is done sometimes to move deadlocked discussions on.
I think you may have encountered suggest only in the context of its accusatory sense: ("Are you suggesting that I have been embezzling funds? How dare you!") and, therefore, feel that it always carries connotations of forcefulness and criticism which it does not.
'Suggestion' has a much wider and, generally much less formal, use than "proposal" and can be used with adjectives such as "tentative", "helpful", "powerful", "forceful" and many others giving a wide range of force. I agree with your colleague that you definitely "suggested" the shelf because you put the idea forward for consideration and am quite surprised that you thought his use of "suggest" implied critcism of you.
Solution 2:
The dictionary definition is fine, but the usage of the term is more nuanced.
Consider the sense of "you suggested" when the stress is placed on each word.
Stressing "you" leads to the generic sense, where the possibility of using a shelf was raised by you. Instead of possibility, one could use the words proposal or even suggestion without implying any commitment to the idea on your part. It's in this sense that your colleague's statements should be taken.
Stressing "suggested" narrows the semantic range of the word to something more akin to a vested interest. That's the sense that you appear to have taken your colleague's comments.
Unfortunately, off-the-cuff utterances can often be intended one way and taken another. In your example, both positions can be argued, but the generic sense tends to dominate unless special effort is made (and perceived) to invoke the narrower sense.