'cling to'

Young Min asks:


Is there good word instead of 'cling to' in paraphrasing?

Cling to is a tricky expression because it implies desperation. The metaphor is something like a child hanging onto its mother's leg or an animal hanging onto a branch. There is some fear of letting go because of either a perceived or actual risk. We often speak of people "clinging to" the past or to old ways of doing things.

So, if you want to avoid the implications, you may want to consider retain, which means simply to continue to have something, sometimes with an implication of preserving it. This seems a bit shorter and more neutral. If you want the same meaning with a positive implication, you could even use remain faithful to, but that's a little bit longer, and you're looking to paraphrase.


Sorry for the delay in responding; your questions arrived right before I went on a week-long trip to Peru.