{"id":2225,"date":"2016-06-22T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T16:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2225"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:18:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:18:33","slug":"clear-as-mud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/clear-as-mud\/","title":{"rendered":"Clear as Mud"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the print and broadcast media, new catchwords appear out of nowhere\u2014and suddenly they\u2019re everywhere. Often these are familiar words that have taken on different meanings which no one ever bothers to explain. Today, let\u2019s discuss a couple of these ubiquitous buzzwords.<\/p>\n

Optics<\/strong>\u00a0 This overblown word has become commonplace in news reports. Some random examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201c[He] should resign from the commission given the problems associated with the optics of a conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201c<\/strong>How important are the optics of this war, and who\u2019s managing them better?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cEarly in the interview, King demanded: \u2018Are you disappointed in the optics of this?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cWell, I think, you know, on the optics, optics are politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Used this way, optics<\/em> is no more than a contrived term for \u201cappearance\u201d or \u201cpublic perception.\u201d But it sounds oh so scholarly and analytical. At least it did at first.<\/p>\n

Pivot<\/strong>\u00a0 We have the tech world to thank for this one. In the language of that exclusive club, pivot <\/em>means \u201cto adopt a new strategy when your startup is floundering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing is trendier than Silicon Valley, so it is no surprise that we hear a lot of its jargon in the media, where journalists have further modified pivot <\/em>for their own purposes. Examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cPresumptive candidates pivot to general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cParties pivot to capture pre-poll votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cTrump pivoted to the gun issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cDid Hillary Clinton\u2019s pivot to Asia work?\u201d<\/p>\n

Why not use familiar words like shift<\/em> or refocus<\/em> or concentrate on<\/em>? When journalists opt for re-engineered words like optics<\/em> and pivot<\/em>, too often it\u2019s a triumph of affectation over good reporting. We should use words to be clear, not to sound as if we know a secret language.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/p>\n

An announcement of a public piano recital included this information: \u201cSunday, July 17, 2016 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (PDT)<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 The rules of punctuation require a comma after 2016. But more to the point, why include the year? Does anyone think this event may be happening in 2017?<\/p>\n

\u2022 There is no need for :00 after the 4 and the 6. What\u2019s wrong with 4 PM<\/span><\/span><\/em> or 6 PM<\/span><\/span><\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u2022 The phrase \u201cfrom 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM<\/span><\/span>\u201d is ungainly and rambling; make it \u201c4-6 PM<\/span><\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 And what could be less necessary than including PDT.* An event taking place on the West Coast would not list a starting time in a different time zone.<\/p>\n

So here is our version: Sunday, July 17<\/span><\/span>, 4-6 PM<\/span><\/span>. That says everything the original says, in less than half the space. Why overcomplicate the simple question: When?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Pacific Daylight Time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the print and broadcast media, new catchwords appear out of nowhere\u2014and suddenly they\u2019re everywhere. Often these are familiar words that have taken on different meanings which no one ever bothers to explain. Today, let\u2019s discuss a couple of these ubiquitous buzzwords. Optics\u00a0 This overblown word has become commonplace in news reports. Some random examples: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,36,10,12,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commas","category-dates-and-times","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}