The phrase "It is my understanding that" is best read as "I’m wrong but I don’t know why yet".
Near Random Linguistic Observation I
In
5 responses
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It can also be read as “I can’t be arsed to check if it is true that”.
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It can also be read as “my investigations to the correctness of my statement are no worse, or perhaps even better, than the standards normally prevalent in your blog/publication”, and that I wish to contribute to the debate, with appropriate effort, and without totally ruining my reputation if that effort turns out to have not been quite sufficient.
It can also be a differentiator, between acceptance of personal responsibility for the argument presented, with acceptance of somewhat lesser responsibility for the facts on which one is basing the argument (which have perhaps been checked rather quickly, as is appropriate for a blog).
Given this sort of doubt which, it is my understanding, is not totally unreasonable, was there a particular case that you had in mind?
Or are we just playing with generalisations?
Best regards
Tim adds: Playing with generalisations and I wasn’t thinking about blogs at all, rather politicians. -
It can also mean “I think you’re talking rubbish but I can’t lay my hands on evidence to cite in support of my view”.
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If they need checking, they ain’t facts but something a bit different–assumptions, suppositions, best guesses, wishes, things you’ve heard or read, etc.
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Closely related to the slightly more assertive “the reality is …”.
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