Vague Language: Why People Use It and How to Interpret It

Vague Language: why
people use it and how to
interpret it
Daniel Greene, BA, Graduate Candidate, CI & CT, NIC Master

Copyright Daniel Greene 2011

Monday, November 12, 12 1

Introductions:
me
• Diploma from
School of Creative &
Performing Arts
• AA in ASL
Interpreting
• BA in English
• Singing,
photography
• In Master of Arts in
Interpreting Studies
program at WOU.


Introductions:

?
you
• Your studies?
• Your work?
• Your hobbies?
• What do you think
Vague Language is?
• What do you hope to
learn, and how do
you plan to
incorporate it into
your work?



Workshop Description

Participants will study and explore the use of vague
language (VL) in both English and ASL, the
communicative purposes of VL, the importance of
retaining ambiguity when conveying vague
messages from one language to another, the benefits
of leaving language vague instead of interrupting to
request clarification, and specific strategies for
conveying VL in both ASL and English. Participants
will gain an elevated respect for when, why, and
how we should say just what our consumers said.



Educational Objectives

 By end of workshop, participants should be able to:
 Define VL and name at least 5 communicative purposes
that VL serves.
 Distinguish between language that needs to be clarified
and language that is better conveyed at uttered.
 Have strategies for conveying VL in English and ASL
without interrupting for clarification.
 Give a dozen examples of words, phrases, signs,
classifiers, and mouth morphemes used in VL in
English & ASL.
 Know where to look for more resources.


Agenda

 7 hours with 1-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks

 .6 CEUs in Professional Studies (PS)

 Lecture, discussions, Q & A, etc.

 Take care of yourself, ask questions, respect others,
share knowledge and share time.

 Message me privately with a note or email
me@danielgreene.com if you don’t want to
comment/question publicly.



Mad Libs Game
Pair up: responder and scribe. Fill in the blanks as vaguely as
possible; e.g., if it asks for a noun, fill in a vague noun.



 vague |veɪg|
adjective
 of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or
meaning: many patients suffer vague
symptoms.
V
 thinking or communicating in an unfocused or
imprecise way: he had been very vague about
A
his activities.
G
 DERIVATIVES
vague•ness noun, U
vagu•ish adjective

 ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French, or from
E
Latin vagus ‘wandering, uncertain’ (New
Oxford American Dictionary).


VL is not…

 VL is not “vague language” in the sense of
unfocussed, uninformative, sloppily constructed,
poorly articulated, badly written, or
incomprehensible to those who know the speaker
well.

 Ambiguous language like “porcelain egg container”
or “The chicken is ready to eat” whose “vagueness”
usually serves no social function.



VL is…

 Intentional

 Approximate

 Nonspecific

 Polysemous

 Pragmatic (speakers’ goals)

 Social (speakers’ relationship to each other)



 reduce social distance,
Purposes of VL imply group membership,
develop rapport

 be concise, relevant,
People use VL intentionally to: informative, non-pedantic

 be flexible, allow for
alternatives, collaborate

 be polite, manage tension,
save face, avoid losing face

 Promote group identity,
protect individual identity

 avoid taking responsibility



VL is Universal

 Found in every language studied so far.

 Used in both English and ASL.

 Used more in speaking than in writing.

 Predominant in casual discourse but exists in formal
discourse and “frozen” texts.

 A characteristic of native fluency.



Paul Grice’s
Conversational Maxims
 Maxim of Quantity: Be succinct. Say as much as
necessary, but not too much.

 Maxim of Quality: Be honest. Only say what you
have evidence for and believe to be true.

 Maxim of Relation: Be relevant. Make your
contribution relevant to the interaction.

 Maxim of Manner: Don’t be ambiguous (or vague)



Violating the
Maxim of Manner
 “Indirect Strategies” (Brown & Levinson, 1987 in
Hoza, 2007)
 Be ambiguous, be vague
 Overgeneralize
 Displace hearer
 Be incomplete, use ellipsis



‘And you know what that
means!’ —Flouting Maxims
 Humorous Conversational Implicature (Cutting,
2007, p. 225)
 “Well you know what he’s like.”
 “I can imagine why you wouldn’t want to.”
 “I really like the teacher very much.”

 …and you know what that means / … and I don’t
have to tell you what that means.

 How can we handle such implications?



Examples of VL
Hedge words, adverbial modifiers, ambiguous responses, etc.



Polite Pucker
(pp) & Polite
Grimace (pg)
Figures from the book It’s Not
What You Sign, It’s How You
Sign It: Politeness in American
Sign Language. Hoza, J. (2007).
Washington, D.C. Gallaudet
University Press.
Photographer: Jack Hoza.
Model: Carol Zurek, native
deaf signer. Used with
permission from Jack Hoza
and Gallaudet University
Press.



Body/head teeter (bt)
Figures from the book It’s Not What You Sign, It’s How You Sign It: Politeness in American Sign
Language. Hoza, J. (2007). Washington, D.C. Gallaudet University Press. Photographer: Jack
Hoza. Model: Carol Zurek, native deaf signer. Used with permission from Jack Hoza and
Gallaudet University Press.



“WELL”/q
University Press.
Press.



‘WELL’/pg, bt
Figures from the book It’s Not What You Sign, It’s How You Sign It: Politeness in American Sign
Language. Hoza, J. (2007). Washington, D.C. Gallaudet University Press. Photographer: Jack
Hoza. Model: Carol Zurek, native deaf signer. Used with permission from Jack Hoza and
Gallaudet University Press.



DON’T MIND
/pp , tight lips
University Press.
Press.



DON’T
MIND /pg,
pg–frown
University Press.
Press.



Vague intonation /
inflection
 Rising tone / inflection (eyebrows, head forward)

 List with pauses rather than the “alternative ‘or’”

 “Would you like coffee, tea, soda...?” vs. “coffee, tea,
or soda?” (rising vs. falling = vague vs. specified)

 “Would you like chicken or beef on that salad?” Note
the difference between rising tone / inflection and
falling tone / inflection.



Hedges

 TRUE (really), actually

 MAYBE, maybe, may, might, perhaps, perchance

 THINK, think, imagine, suppose

 SIMILAR, like

 WELL, WELL (hands circling), #WELL, well…

 Polite grimace (pg) tighter based on risk to face, rank
of request difficulty, power differential. Same as tone.



Other Vague NMMs

 Shoulder shrug, head tilt
(don’t know, not sure…)

 Eye gaze / pursed lips
(thinking about it…)

 Pursed lips Mm:
 “acceptable”
 “noncommittal”
 “unimpressed”

 Can you think of other vague
NMMs?



Vague ASL Responses

 THAT–THAT, “Hm…”, pursed lips (pl)

 Head tilt, polite grimace

 Body/head teeter (bt)

 Shrug

 Can you think of other vague ASL responses?



Vague Vocal Responses

 Eh?

 Hm

 Mm

 Uh

 Oh

 Can you think of any vague vocal responses?



Vague Response Game in
ASL & English
Pair up into Partner A and B.
Partner A make statement to Partner B.
Partner B respond noncommittally. Switch, repeat until time is up.


VL to obfuscate/bewilder
in “Party Political Speech”
“My friends, in the light of present day
developments, let me say right away that I do not
regard existing conditions lightly. On the contrary, I
have always regarded them as subjects of the
gravest responsibility, and shall ever continue to do
so. … For I have no doubt whatsoever that whatever
I may have said in the past or what I am saying now
is the exact, literal and absolute truth as to the state
of the case” (Peter Sellers, 1958 in Joan Cutting, 2007,
p. 234).



VL in Corporate–speak

 “Less desirable outcomes may have to be explored.”

 “It is not possible at this time to comment upon the
present matter with any substantial level of
certainty.”

 “It is not our intention to discriminate; however,
rules must be set to ensure educational standards.”

 What other examples of corporate–speak do you interpret
in the schools?



VL in the Courtroom:
direct examination
 Person on the stand may use VL so as neither to lie
nor to say that for which they have no evidence; e.g.,
“I think…” or “It might have been. I can’t be sure.”

 Person on the stand may use VL to shirk
responsibility, avoid blame, or minimize admission
of guilt.

 Judge or lawyers may ask questions to force person
on the stand to clarify vague language.

 What happens when you clarify consumers’ VL?


VL in the Courtroom:
Cross-examination
 “Q: He was sputtering and choking, was he not? A:
No, sir. I would not say it was life threatening. No. Q:
He was not choking? A: I am not saying he was not
choking. There was some noise coming from his
throat, yes” Cotterill, 2007 ‘Vagueness in the British
Courtroom’, in Vague Language Explored, ed.
Cutting, p. 110).

 How do you think this relates to educational interpreting?



Self-protective avoidance

 Negative communication goals = what we want to
avoid; e.g., embarrassment at being wrong or
inadequate. “I’ll just be giving a brief overview of the
topic, far from an exhaustive review...” “still in its
infancy...” “your mileage may vary ‘YMMV’...”
“IMHO (in my humble opinion)” “Perhaps...”

 Presenters at conferences do this (Trappes–Lomax,
2007).

 Students giving reports might give such disclaimers
to protect themselves as well.


Passive voice

 “The package will be picked up” rather than “He/
She/They/Someone will pick up the package.”

 “The results will be determined by a committee.”

 “The check will be sent by overnight express.”

 “Someone will be given an item to process.”



Passive voice, a.k.a. agent-
defocused constructions
 “Just a dog being walked” rather than “Just someone
walking their dog” (because the dog is more
important than the person).

 “I was bumped to the front of the line” (because the
person who bumped you is not as important as that
you were bumped).



Approximators

 about / approximately

 around / AROUND…

 sort of / SO-SO

 ...or so, give or take, more or less, EQUAL±

 -ish (ASL shake vs. swipe; e.g., bluish, greenish,
twoish, threeish vs. BLUE!, GREEN!, TWO!, THREE!)

 Pretty good, pretty ugly, etc. (GOOD++ vs. GOOD!)



Quantifiers

 Some, few, several, a lot, many, enough, plenty

 SOME, FEW, A-LOT, MANY, ENOUGH, PLENTY

 one or two, ONE-TWO, a couple-three, TWO-THREE



Modified quantifiers /
NMM
 Very few (FEW oo)

 Quite a few (FEW puffedBlow)

 Quite a bit (MUCH mm)

 Quite a lot (MUCH puffedBlow)

 Baker–Shenk and Cokely (1980), Struxness (1996),
Bickford, J. & Fraychinaud, K. (2006). Phrases mine.

 A tiny bit (“pinky-flick” boo)



Vague Category Markers
(VCMs)
 VCMs, general extenders, general list completers,
tags, terminal tags, vague category identifiers. These
show that previous list items are just examples.

 …or anything/something (like that)

 …and/or stuff/things like that

 …and/or that sort of thing

 VARIOUS-THINGS, COUNT-ON-FINGERS, CL:5
COUNT-ON-FINGERS, LONG-LIST, part:indef



me•ton•y•my |məˈtänəmē
noun (pl. metonymies)
M
 the substitution of the name of an attribute or
adjunct for that of the thing meant, for
E
example suit for business executive, or the
track for horse racing. T
DERIVATIVES O
metonymic |ˌmetəˈnimik| adjective
metonymical |ˌmetəˈnimikəl| adjective N
metonymically |ˌmetəˈnimik(ə)lē| adverb
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek Y
metōnumia, literally ‘change of name’ (New
Oxford American Dictionary). M
Y


Metonymical Proper Nouns

 How’s your Chomsky coming? (homework)

 She ran off and married that suit. (executive)

 House bid accepted, now to the bank! (financing)

 I just pulled a Carol! (something Carol would do)

 They went all KKK on my ass! (police brutality)



Clausal ellipsis

 “Did you get what I sent you?” “He liked what I
gave him.” “So, shall we do it?”

 Speakers sharing knowledge claim in-group
membership by omitting it when referring to it in
casual conversation. In/exclusive.

 You, the interpreter, don’t usually claim in-group
membership. How do you let them have their
rapport?



Where else do you see VL?

 Intimate or casual conversations (street talk, slang)

 Teachers talking shop (professional jargon)

 Illicit or secretive exchanges (mischief, scheming)

 Frozen texts such as literature, film, music, theater

 What other kinds of VL do you interpret?



Ethics & Models
Why and how to interpret VL vaguely



VL and the CPC
Interpreters:
 “render the message faithfully by conveying the content
and spirit of what is being communicated, using
language most readily understood by consumers” (2.3).

 “conduct and present themselves in an unobtrusive
manner” (3.5).

 “demonstrate respect for consumers” (4.0).

 “facilitate consumer access and equality, and support
the full interaction and independence of
consumers” (4.4).



Confusion is
part of
communication
“…if communication
depends on the
construction of meaning
from cues, and if
communicators do not
have direct access to
others’ meanings or
intentions, then what we
should expect is partial
communication.
Successful communication
requires our attention and
explanation” (Wilcox &
Shaffer, 2005, p. 45). Copyright Daniel Greene 2011


“It is not that English is
indirect and ASL is direct”
“The problem is not interpreting. It is not that English is
indirect and that ASL is direct as Humphrey and Alcorn (2001)
and others would have us view it. It is not that translation
equivalents are hard to find (indeed, they are, but that pales in
comparison to the real problem). It is not that ASL is direct
and elaborative and relies on expansion techniques while
English is indirect and non-elaborative (Lawrence 1995;
Humphrey & Alcorn 2001). The problem is that our models of
interpreting simply do not do justice to the act of
communicating. In trivializing the cognitive work that is done
whenever we communicate with another we fail to prepare
interpreters for the awesome and mysterious task that they
perform: speaking for another.” (Wilcox & Shaffer, 2005, p. 44)


17% 17%

17%
17%

17% 17%

The Toolmakers Paradigm
“Imagine…a huge compound, shaped like a wagon wheel. Each pie-
shaped sector of the wheel is an environment…at the hub of the wheel
there is some machinery which can deliver small sheets of paper from
one environment to another…people in these environments have learned
how to use this machinery to exchange crude sets of instructions with
one another— instructions for making things helpful to
surviving…” (Reddy, 1993, pp. 171-172).


Everyone is an Interpreter:
Discuss!
1. “Speaking for another” does not minimize the “cognitive
work that is done whenever [people] communicate with
[each other].” They “work” at “interpreting” each other.
2. What kind of “work” do you do when you’re
communicating with another in your first language? In
your second language? Through an interpreter?
3. How much work should the consumers do, and how
much work should the interpreter do? Why?
4. How do I know how much work they would do if they
were speaking the same language in the same culture?


What if I weren’t there? vs.
What if they were speaking the same language?

“‘What if I weren’t there?’ is I used to suggest people ask
an abdication of themselves, “What if I
responsibility” (Pollard, weren’t there?” Now I
2010) “ Robyn Dean said, suggest asking “Would these
“‘What happens there people understand each
without interpreters?’” is a other if they were members
question for observation– of the same culture speaking
supervision” (Dean, 2010). the same language? Would
—Workshop presented by there still be confusion?
Dean & Pollard at the Would things still be vague?
Conference of Interpreter Do I need to level the
Trainers, Oct 2010. playing field as a mediator?”


Talk as Text and
Talk as Activity
 Talk as Text: “Utterances are viewed as units of
meaning that consist of smaller units of meaning
such as words and morphemes; each of them is
equally meaningful.”

 Talk as Activity: “Utterances are viewed as activities
that are part of situated interactions, and make sense
to those involved, depending on the type of situation
at hand, on the number of people present, and their
mutual alliances and mutual
involvement” (Wadensjö, 1992, pp. 22–23).



Consumer Collaboration Dynamic:
a working title (Greene, 2011)

 Some consumers are each other’s family, friends,
classmates, coworkers, etc. They know each other
better than the interpreter knows them.

 Some consumers communicate fairly well without an
interpreter— they use facial expressions, gesture,
writing, home/name signs, speech & lipreading, etc.
(Some even sign when they’re not on the phone!)

 Some consumers know each other intimately and,
naturally, use vague language with each other.



Group Membership
Shared Knowledge
Deaf Social Space
Relationship
Hearing Co-
Consumer Consumer
COLLABORATION labor-
Communication Tools
ation
Fluency in M
Deaf/Hearing
Culture/Language O
D
Hearing E
Interpreter
L


Interpreters =
Interrupters?
“Many teachers find the ‘lust’
to clarify and explain
irresistible” (Rowland, 2007, p.
81). Do interpreters share the
same ‘lust’ as teachers?



Interpreters = Interrupters?
Should you interrupting to clarify? Discuss:

1. Are they using VL? How can I tell?

2. How might I defeat the purpose of VL by clarifying?

3. What harm might I do by interrupting?

4. What good might I do by interrupting?



Drawbacks to interrupting

 Breaks flow of conversation, throws off train of
thought

 Shifts focus from consumers to interpreter

 Assumes responsibility for communication

 Deprives consumers of natural consequences, self-
correction, and rapport

 Defeats the purpose of VL



Strategies for interpreting VL
English–ASL w/o interrupting
 Vague body language, facial expression, and mouth
morphemes (adverbial and adjectival modifiers)

 Vague signs such as ETC., WELL, LIKE, UH…, YA-
DA, YA-DA, YA-DA (official gloss for that sign?)

 Creative expressions that convey a message that is
equivalently vague in ASL as the English message.

 Passive voice or non-agent construction: “I was
called” or TAP(me)–ON–SHOULDER



English–ASL w/o interrupting
 Transliteration

 Fingerspelling— (if you can’t make sense of what
you’re hearing but you got the sounds of it).

 Approximation— “Sounds like…” (good with f/s)
“Something to the effect of…” “Something about…”

 Check w/consumer: Hearing: “…and you know
what that means…” You: “KNOW MEANS YOU?”
 Make the implicit explicit if you have to.



ASL–English w/o interrupting
 All the vague words we learned in MadLibs
 Vague personal pronouns— one, they, someone, e.g.,
“When one is hungry, one will do anything to eat.”
“They pushed it.” “Someone wanted something.”
 Gerunds (verbs ending with –ing); e.g., “The flashing
of the lights was distracting,” (who was flashing the
lights?) or, “When the packing was done, it was time
to go” (who was packing or going?). “There was a lot
of fighting going on” (who was fighting?).



Game:
Interpret VL w/o interrupting
 Pair up with someone you don’t know well.

 Attend to the source language prompt.

 Interpret the vague source message into an equally
vague target message.



VL examples to interpret

 1. Open the container 2. Remove the seal 3. Procure
the substance

 “I think you should see the widgets arrive in a timely
fashion.”

 “All this Mexican food is going make for an
interesting afternoon.”

 Well, I think I’d kinda like if we tried to start
sometime around two-ish.



Mad Libs, Take 2
What are the vaguest words that can be used to fill in the blanks for
different parts of speech required in Mad Libs? Let’s go through
them one by one.


Vague adjectives

 considerable, sizable, nothing to sneeze at

 indistinct, murky, uncertain, undecided,
undetermined, unclear, unknown, unremarkable,
unspecified, vague

 certain— actually uncertain (vague), as in “of a
certain age,” “a certain someone,” “a certain
something,” “a certain time,” etc.



Vague adverbs

 sort of, kind of

 someway, somehow

 apparently, ostensibly, presumably, supposedly,
allegedly, seemingly



Vague animals

 Animal, organism, life form, microbe

 Invertebrate

 Mammal

 Amphibian

 Pet



Vague body parts

 organ, system

 appendage, limb

 upper body, lower body

 torso, extremities

 thingy, privates

 scrabula (UrbanDictionary)



Vague colors

 Pastel

 Bright

 Muted

 Light

 Dark



Vague exclamations/silly
words
 Oh/Huh/Eh?

 Really?!

 You don’t say!

 No shit!

 Interesting!

 Whatever!

 Anyway!


Vague single nouns

 Something, thing, thingie, thingamajig, it, hoodicky,
whichamabobber, whosiwhatsis, watsit, truc (Fr),
whatchamacallit, item, bit, article, parcel, package,
widget, part, tool, product, garment, file, document
(CL:F “paper”), SKU, device, element, container
(CL?!)...

 Da kine (Hawaiian Pidgin from “that kind”)



Vague plural nouns

 Individual: Things, this & that (cosas), odds & ends,
loose ends, gizmos, doo dads, widgets

 Collective: collection, bunch, range, line, class,
market, niche, array, assortment, selection, boatload

 Mass: Stuff, crap, merchandise, stock, inventory,
cargo, material (not always fabric!)



Vague numbers

 Heaps of, loads of, oodles of, lots of, tons of...

 Many, plenty of, myriad, innumerable, numberless

 A couple, a few, several, some-odd, umpteen, scores,
hordes, thousands

 HORDES, ONE–THOUSAND MINIMUM

 The other day, weeks, months, years, eons, ages

 Choke! (Hawaiian Pidgin)



Vague occupations

 “I work on computers.”

 “I work in science.”

 “I’m in the import/export business.”

 “I work in the entertainment industry.”

 Can you think of other vague occupations?



Vague people

 Someone, guy, gal, kid, old fart, mec (Fr), type, one,
individual, troop, entity, party, body, resource

 Agent, operator, actor, stakeholder

 Whoever, you–know–who, , what’s–his/her–name

 You know, that actor from that movie where they…

 An anonymous source (donor, informant…)

 Number, suit, skirt, hottie, babe, player, that one



Vague places

 Place, location, rendezvous, spot, venue, space,
arena, area, coordinates, intersection, latitude

 Stepped away, on the other line, in a meeting, in the
field, out of the office, indisposed

 Somewhere, someplace, wherever, who knows
where, you-know-where, overseas

 Can you think of other vague places?



Vague pronouns

 One, one’s

 They, Them, Their

 OK to use they/them/their as third person singular
when you’re unsure of gender or don’t wish to
specify. Shakespeare did this.

 This helps when interpreting genderless indexing.



Vague verbs

 Go (went, etc.), come (came, etc.), do something/
stuff, do a bit of this & that, etc., run errands (DO++),
fool around, tool around, futz, fiddle-fart, putter,
keep busy, take care of business, take care of some
odds & ends, tie up loose ends, get all [my] ducks in
a row, engage, take action…

 Can you think of more vague verbs?



Q & A and Review



Limitations

 Lack of keywords “VL” or “vague language” in
literature about ASL; must search for many related
terms and synthesize lit review.

 Only one ASL corpus (NCSLGR), 19 narratives, 19
elicited utterance videos, 14 participants.

 No unrehearsed monologues or dialogues.

 Not all my observations from experience are
reflected in the corpus.



Implications for
teaching and research
 Study how deaf people use VL.

 Study how interpreters interpret VL.

 Publish more about VL in the interpreting field.

 Teach VL in ASL / interpreting curricula.

 Consider VL in self-assessment, professional
discussions, case conferencing, mentoring, etc.



Review:
Workshop Description
Participants will study and explore the use of vague
language (VL) in both English and ASL, the
communicative purposes of VL, the importance of
retaining ambiguity when conveying vague
messages from one language to another, the benefits
of leaving language vague instead of interrupting to
request clarification, and specific strategies for
conveying VL in both ASL and English. Participants
will gain an elevated respect for when, why, and
how we should say just what our consumers said.



Review:
Educational Objectives
 By end of workshop, participants should be able to:
 Define VL and name at least 5 communicative purposes
that VL serves.
 Distinguish between language that needs to be clarified
and language that is better conveyed at uttered.
 Have strategies for conveying VL in English and ASL
without interrupting for clarification.
 Give a dozen examples of words, phrases, signs,
classifiers, and mouth morphemes used in VL in
English & ASL.
 Know where to look for more resources.


Contact me
Go to my Website:
www.danielgreene.com

From there, you will find links to my Email, Facebook, Google+,
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Vague Language: Why People Use It and How to Interpret It

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