Politicians and salesmen aren’t the only people who use — or even rely on — vague language. Never mind that much of the world can be measured in neatly defined units such as centimeters, milligrams and degrees, writes van Deemter, a computer scientist. Most people have little sense of those units, so vagueness permeates speech and ideas, from describing a person as “tall” to the weather as “chilly.”
NOT EXACTLY: IN PRAISE OF VAGUENESS BY KEES VAN DEEMTER
Van Deemter argues that vagueness is not only the norm, but can even be useful. The imprecision of “chilly,” for example, quickly conveys a comparison and judgment that isn’t necessarily captured by a precise temperature reading.
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