No one is against “bringing down costs for Canadians
and helping them get ahead.”
But no one also knows what it means.
– The Hub
Oh my goodness. I quite enjoy many of The Hub’s articles, but I didn’t enjoy this bit:
But no one also knows what it means.
Guys: Get a grip. If you absolutely must have the “also”, you could do this:
No one is against “some slogan.”
But, also, no one knows what it means.
But surely what you really wanted was this:
No one is against “some slogan.”
But no one knows what it means, either.
It’s the “no one” that gets us into trouble here, I think, along with the desire to have the elegance of a parallel construction. They could have done it more simply, for sure.
Everyone agrees with “some slogan”;
but no one really knows what it means.
But, alas, no one also thought of it in time. Such are the joys of publication deadlines.
I wonder if a publication deadline was responsible for this headline: “If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile”
Tom
Tom – 🙂 We can always blame schedule pressure . . .
And hence the axiom “I could have written a shorter piece but I didn’t have enough time”.
Mary – 🙂 Indeed. Attributed to Twain and Pascal, and presented in various formulations. True for most of us I expect. Concision takes time.
I think your example is a common political prevarication. Would it not be true that “bringing down costs of food and other necessities” would be a means of freeing up money for “lifestyle improvements and discretionary spending,” as one definition of “getting ahead”? If so, it does not follow that “no one knows what it means, either.” What may be true on further analysis is that no one knows how to bring down the cost of food and other necessities, although it is more likely that no one who does know how is inclined to do so.
Laurna – Fair enough, although “common political prevarication” might be redundant. I think sometimes the slogans are so vague that they could mean almost anything – or nothing, at least in the sense that you can’t be held to them. Another issue that your comment raises is the importance of clear writing: if you state your piece clearly and simply, you sometimes find that it isn’t really what you meant (or can justify) at all. But when it sounds fancy, it’s harder to challenge. Maybe that’s a “common op-ed prevarication.” 🙂
Isabel – The real wording should be, “But, there isn’t a politician on the face of the planet who knows how to do it, without alienating one block of voters or another.”
Oops. Guess I can’t cut and past from your original, e.g.
<>
But, also, no one knows what it means.
John – Interestingly, I wasn’t able to copy or even type that bit into your initial comment so I’ve just left the thread as is. It seems we have two problems (not with blog comments but with governance). Voters don’t really know what we want and what it would cost; politicians don’t know how to give whatever it is to us while keeping their jobs.