ABSTRACT
For better or worse, language is extremely good at grey areas. When we speak in absolutes, we tend to trip up. Politicians know this, and so will craft their words to sound as if they are making promises or definite opinions, when on closer analysis it becomes clear they have promised nothing and made no clear-cut judgement about anything. Think of the dangerous absolutes we use in arguments with a partner: ‘you always leave the bath mat in a heap’, ‘you never empty the dishwasher’, ‘you completely ignore me every single time I try to . . .’. These words come from red-hot anger, and forcefully communicate emotion, but rarely stand up to the facts. Even mathematicians are careful when they use ‘always’, and end up having to make very narrow and precise definitions before using it, and then have to provide a rigorous logical proof as well.
