83
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by PlogLod@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

As we see there are 2 meanings of "so-called" that can be confused or misinterpreted, of which one implies falsehood and the other doesn't.

One. to show that something or someone is commonly designated by the name or term specified.

"Western Countries belonging to the so-called Paris club"

Two. used to express one's view that such a name or term is inappropriate.

"she could trust him more than any of her so-called friends"

Since so-called I feel is very often used to suggest that a title for something describes a meaning that isn't necessarily accurate, what's another term that simply expresses that something is titled something without judgment of the title?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] scarabic@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Western Countries belonging to the “Paris Club.”

Using quotes indicates directly that this is being relayed as something someone else says or said.

It is factual and has less obvious shade than “so-called.” But someone could still say it can be used to cast shade:

My son’s “friend” stole his school lunch.

This is however irony, where you say the exact opposite of what is meant. So I’m not sure that counts.

But some hint of shade could be unavoidable since any time you report anything as something someone says, you offload accountability to a party not present, and invoke the possibility that that other party is fallible. Hearsay is inherently suspect. Why are you telling me what someone else said? Don’t you know yourself whether it is true?

But I don’t think using quotes necessarily jumps out as a way to mark something suspect.

Scientists have been searching for a “theory of everything”

the “Cambrian explosion” saw new forms of life evolve

he was enamored with “crew cab” trucks.

Pretty neutral. This might work, with the exception of deliberate irony.

this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
83 points (100.0% liked)

No Stupid Questions

35311 readers
1240 users here now

No such thing. Ask away!

!nostupidquestions is a community dedicated to being helpful and answering each others' questions on various topics.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must be legitimate questions. All post titles must include a question.

All posts must be legitimate questions, and all post titles must include a question. Questions that are joke or trolling questions, memes, song lyrics as title, etc. are not allowed here. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.



Rule 2- Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Questions which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding META posts and joke questions.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-question posts using the [META] tag on your post title.

On fridays, you are allowed to post meme and troll questions, on the condition that it's in text format only, and conforms with our other rules. These posts MUST include the [NSQ Friday] tag in their title.

If you post a serious question on friday and are looking only for legitimate answers, then please include the [Serious] tag on your post. Irrelevant replies will then be removed by moderators.



Rule 7- You can't intentionally annoy, mock, or harass other members.

If you intentionally annoy, mock, harass, or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.



Credits

Our breathtaking icon was bestowed upon us by @Cevilia!

The greatest banner of all time: by @TheOneWithTheHair!

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS