I am trying to figure out how to properly untangle some of the words that are commonly translated as "to refrain from" in German. After looking through some dictionaries, I find three common translations:
- etwas unterlassen
- von etwas absehen
- auf etwas verzichten
One common thing that one may be asked to refrain from doing is smoking. As expected, I find "vom Rauchen absehen", "das Rauchen unterlassen", and "auf das Rauchen verzichten". Is there a clear distinction between these three expressions? Perhaps one that can be universally used in phrases such as "Please refrain from moving about while the seat belt light is on" in an airplane, etc.?