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Vague Language (aka Ambiguous Language) is. a defining characteristic of weak writing and writer-based prose style. Examples of vague language are. generalization, overgeneralizations—a sweeping statement about a group of people, things, topic. an excessive number of non-specific adjectives like good, bad, okay, pretty, happy, and sad, which ...
Here’s a list of common vague phrases, along with suggestions for making them more clear and specific: “We will do it soon.”. More Clear: “We will complete the task by next Friday.”. “That’s not a big deal.”. More Clear: “The issue is minor and can be resolved quickly.”. “She is sort of experienced.”.
- Vague Words and Phrases
- Vagueness Versus Specificity
- Varieties of Vagueness
- Vagueness in Oratory
- Vagueness in Survey Questions
- Ambiguity Versus Vagueness
- Vagueness in Sentences and Words
"Vaguenessarises from the use of terms that are inherently vague. The cabinet minister who says, My officials are monitoring this situation very closely, and I can promise that we shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the situation is resolved in a way that is fair to all the parties involved. should be challenged on grounds of vaguene...
"Vague or abstract words can create wrong or confusing meaningsin your receiver's mind. They state a general idea but leave the precise meaning to the receiver's interpretation...The following examples show vague or abstract words and ways to make them specific and precise: 1. many - 1,000 or500 to 1,000 2. early- 5 a.m. 3. hot- 100 degrees Fahrenh...
"One characteristic of vagueness...is that it is related to the degree of formality, or rather informality, of the situation; the less formal the situation the more vagueness there will be..."
"[T]he need in oratory of the specific example, either in place of or immediately following the general statement, cannot be too strongly urged. Generalizations alone have no persuasive value. And yet this truth is constantly overlooked by public speakers. How often do we hear the common criticism of the typically weak, impressionless address: 'Pla...
"Vague words are very common on surveys. A word is vague when it is not obvious to a respondent what referents (e.g., instances, cases, examples) fall under the umbrella of the word's intended meaning...For example, consider the question, 'How many members of your household work?' This question has several vague words, most of which would be missed...
"The difference between ambiguity and vagueness is a matter of whether two or more meanings associated with a given phonological form are distinct (ambiguous), or united as non-distinguished subcases of a single, more general meaning (vague). A standard example of ambiguity is bank 'financial institution' vs. bank 'land at river's edge,' where the ...
"The primary application of 'vague' is to sentences, not to words. But the vaguenessof a sentence does not imply that vagueness of every constituent word. One vague word is enough. It may be essentially doubtful whether this is a red shape because it is essentially doubtful whether this is red, although beyond doubt that it is a shape. The vaguenes...
- Richard Nordquist
Vague expressions - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
The discussion involves the conceptual frameworks and features of vague language, which are illustrated by examples and research drawn from intercultural corpora. This chapter reviews the theorization of vague language, its linguistic categories and pragmatic functions, vague language use in intercultural communication, and includes suggestions for future research.
Hedging, also called caution or cautious language or tentative language or vague language, is a way of softening the language by making the claims or conclusions less absolute. It is especially common in the sciences, for example when giving a hypothesis or presenting results, though it is also used in other disciplines to avoid presenting conclusions or ideas as facts, and to distance the ...
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Most quantifiers are quite vague. In this programme we looked at how the words one or two can refer to three, four or five things. I expect the meeting will be quite short. We only have one or two ...
