Vagueries

Vagueries denote instances or qualities of vagueness in language, thought, or behavior. They may be deliberate or incidental and range from hedging in everyday speech to broad indeterminacy in classification.

Etymology: The term derives from Latin vagus, wandering or wavering, and entered English as vagueries in the early modern period, describing the state of being vague.

In scope, vagueries appear in linguistics as imprecise terms with blurred boundaries; in philosophy as questions about threshold and border cases; in law and policy as potential sources of ambiguity that affect interpretation and fairness; and in ordinary discourse as social tools or constraints.

Types include lexical vagueness (terms with fuzzy boundaries), contextual vagueness (interpretation depends on situation), and boundary cases (points where classification is unclear). The sorites paradox, a chain of borderline steps, is a canonical illustration of vagueries in reasoning.

Examples terms such as tall, near, or old illustrate lexical vagueness; phrases like soon or shortly illustrate contextual vagueness. Vagueries can serve social functions, enabling politeness or caution, but may impede precise communication and formal decision making.

Management often employs definitions, quantifiers, or probabilistic statements to reduce vagueness; hedging and clarifying questions help balance precision with nuance.

See also: vagueness, ambiguity, hedging, sorites paradox, lexical semantics.