Yesterday in my swimming class, my two friends and I tested out so we could just swim laps. This class is epic by the way. It's like getting a free unit to exercise. Anyways, in between laps we would get tired because we are all out of shape and lazy so we would chit chat a little bit. We got to talking about exercise itself and my friend said to me "swimming is better than running." I laughed a little bit because I had just read the chapter on vague sentences. This sentence is very vague because "better" could mean a whole list of things.
1. You could interpret this as swimming being better for your body. People always talk about how running is bad on your knees and swimming is good for your joints. So that is one way to interpret this sentence.
2. You could also interpret this sentence as meaning it is a better cardio workout. Seeing how we were more tired swimming for 2 minutes than we would have been running for two minutes this could be another way of interpreting it.
There are numerous ways to interpret this sentence and that is why it is so vague. We could easily make a claim out of this sentence but not in the given context. For instance it would become a claim if we said something more like "swimming is more tiring than running."
Great example of a vague sentence! This is an example that I hear much too often. “This is better than that, he is better than him” and things of that nature. Statements like these leave a lot of room for error. It is little comments such as these are subject to misinterpretation because as you said, not all of us are the same and we interpret things differently than others. Another way this statement could be restated would be swimming is much more beneficial for your physique than running. But it seems as if not everyday do you hear people talking very clearly and concisely. Maybe vague sentences exist because it is impractical to watch what you say every 10 seconds and make sure what you are saying comes across 100% clear to everyone. Is it that this day in age it us much more easier to talk vaguely? Maybe! But otherwise, great post!
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