{"id":1829,"date":"2017-03-14T21:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T01:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2018-07-06T10:24:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T14:24:02","slug":"opposites-attract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/opposites-attract\/","title":{"rendered":"“Opposites Attract”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"15248489643_9d034f197d_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On occasion we get lured into saying the opposite of what we mean. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I read the following sentence in an article extolling the many strengths of the hit TV show This Is Us<\/em>: “You can’t underestimate the quality of the performances.” Hmm. Is that supposed to be a compliment?<\/p>\n

What the writer meant to express was “You can’t overestimate<\/span> the quality of the performances.” That is to say, in a rather figurative sense, no matter how high you go in praising the acting, even greater accolades would be deserved.<\/p>\n

(“Underestimate” would be used correctly, however, in “We anticipated completing our project in March, but we underestimated the complexity of the final phase.”)<\/p>\n

A similar misstep involves saying “I could care less,” as in “I just learned the boss can’t attend my retirement party, but I could care less.” No, it’s the opposite. Surely, the speaker means that, having no particular affection for her boss, she “couldn’t<\/span> care less.”<\/p>\n

And here’s a tricky one: “Clyde\u00a0inferred<\/span> that the project will miss the deadline.” That was correctly written if Clyde was drawing meaning from something he heard or read.\u00a0But if Clyde was delivering a cryptic message, he was implying<\/span>. Those who drew conclusions from his hinting were inferring<\/span> (making inferences).<\/p>\n

So if you merely\u00a0imply<\/span> something, I need to infer<\/span> what you mean.<\/p>\n

As writers, we want to ensure that we are always taking our readers in the right direction.<\/p>\n

You can go to\u00a0http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/index.shtml<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about my workshops on writing in the workplace, individual\u00a0coaching, editing, and handbook \u2013\u00a0100+ Instant Writing Tips<\/a>.\u00a0Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On occasion we get lured into saying the opposite of what we mean. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I read the following sentence in an article extolling the many strengths of the hit TV show … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1829"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}