Have I been using weasel words?

“Some people say…”

“I have heard that…”

“It’s well known…”

“In most respects…”

“It’s somewhat true…”

“I’ve seen research…”

At one time or another, I have said all of the above—and they’re all examples of “weasel words.”

“Weasel words” are words and phrases that “are aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated” (Wikipedia).

So, assuming that we strive in our communications to be “specific and meaningful,” we should simply stop making “vague or ambiguous claims” in the first place. I imagine that the goal for most people is to exclusively say things that are specific or meaningful.

But that seems a little…ambitious.

While it would be great if we could all collectively bite our tongues and just refrain from speaking in vague or ambiguous terms about anything, that’s not that reasonable of a recommendation. Sometimes, we need to talk about something and all we have on hand are vague and ambiguous claims.

More reasonable is to incorporate qualifiers into our speech (and writing) that own the actual vagueness and ambiguity of our thoughts. When I catch myself recruiting weasel words to muscle up some point, I pause and attempt to qualify instead:

“Everyone in our industry knows I think I’ve heard from my network that this market sector is growing year over year…”

“It’s somewhat true I have read some negative reviews claiming that this isn’t a trustworthy HVAC contractor…”

No one should expect certainty from anyone on any topic. The world is too wide and complicated to demand that sort of performance from everyone we meet. Let’s strive to be a little more understanding and accommodating to our limited knowledge, while acknowledging our own shortcomings…and stop using those pesky weasel words.