grounded

Hello,

I want to know what "grounded" means in this context. I suppose it must mean something such as "paralyzed" or "stripped of his influence". Would you please comment?

When the conference concluded forty-eight hours later, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al Faisal stood alongside the grounded Ban Ki-moon, who read the statement, said to represent a “sense of the United Nations” in support of greater religious tolerance. In a final irony, the statement was not reported in the Saudi press. It was Saudi foreign policy at its most elaborately artificial.

On Saudi Arabia: Karen House

I can think of two meanings of grounded, but neither seems to fit this context. Grounded can mean "not allowed to go out and have fun with your friends" - this is a pretty common punishment for teenagers; or it can mean "sensible and realistic."

I would understand "grounded" as "sensible, professional, with his attitude based in reality, realistic"

Crosspost.

I can't see such meaning as "realistic" in the dictionary. Anyway I think she means to convey the first meaning proposed by JustKate because of this:

"The hapless secretary general had hoped to avoid the whole imbroglio by flying to Los Angeles for a previously scheduled visit with California’s governor and some of Hollywood’s top movie stars, including Angelina Jolie, but the Saudis demanded—and won—cancellation of those plans in order that he be on hand to meet the king and attend the Interfaith Dialogue."

ebrahim said:

I can't see such meaning as "realistic" in the dictionary. Anyway I think she means to convey the first meaning proposed by JustKate because of this:

"The hapless secretary general had hoped to avoid the whole imbroglio by flying to Los Angeles for a previously scheduled visit with California’s governor and some of Hollywood’s top movie stars, including Angelina Jolie, but the Saudis demanded—and won—cancellation of those plans in order that he be on hand to meet the king and attend the Interfaith Dialogue."

Right, that's why it's important to post sufficient context when you ask a question. The original post omits the most important point in determining the meaning of "grounded" here, which is that Ban had been .

Glenfarclas said:

Right, that's why it's important to post sufficient context when you ask a question. The original post omits the most important point in determining the meaning of "grounded" here, which is that Ban had been .

Ah, I never even considered that meaning, even though it's, of course, well-known to me. Good catch, Glenfarclas. Yes, grounded often does mean "not allowed to fly." It's most commonly used in reference to pilots or airplanes, but under certain rather unusual circumstances, it can be used for passengers, too.