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Thursday, May 17, 2012

222. Elide; Orthogonal


From, “Romney’s Budget Fairy Tale,” by Jonathan Chait, 5/16/12, New York (nymag.com):

The story told by Romney is one in which all of these things are either untrue or could not possibly be true.
Romney elides some inconvenient facts — for instance, by asserting “Then there was Obamacare. Even now nobody knows what it will actually cost,” which is literally true in the sense that precise cost estimates are always impossible, but sounds to his audience like a claim that the program will swell the deficit in vast, unknowable ways. But most of Romney’s speech doesn't even refer to the facts stated above. It's simply orthogonal to facts. It’s a story, one in which Obama increased the deficit because he loves big government and Europe and hates the private sector.

Elide: omit (a sound or syllable) when speaking; join together; merge
Orthogonal: statistical independent; of or involving right angles; at right angles

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