Why “recalcitrance” is a great word
RECALCITRANCE — [Noun] A stubbornly defiant resistance to authority or control. From French récalcitrance, from Latin recalcitrant- (stem of recalcitrāns, present participle of recalcitrāre, "to kick back"), from re- ("back") + calcitrāre ("to kick"), from calx ("heel"). First attested in English in the mid-19th century. Unlike "obstinacy," which is a passive, dug-in persistence, or "compliance," which is a placid yielding, recalcitrance is an active, adversarial kick against the goad. It is the mule that plants its hooves, the rusted bolt that shears before it turns, and the child’s silent, rigid body lifted from the floor—a mute, muscular testament that the will, even in chains, retains a heel.