Vague language is a choice of narrative in which the degree of accuracy, certainty, or clarity in a description of a situation or thing is less than it may be possible.1
A thorough treatment of vague language, including placeholder words, was provided by Joanna Channell.2 In particular, she demonstrates that dictionaries often provide inadequate definitions and explanations of vague lexical items.3
References
References
- Hugh Trappes-Lomax, "Vague language as a means of self-protective avoidance: Tension management in conference talks", In: Vague Language Explored
- Joanna Channell, Vague Language, 1994 readable in the Internet Archive
- Vague language book review
Literature
- Vague Language Explored, 2007
- Communicating through Vague Language: A Comparative Study of L1 and L2 Speakers, 2016
- Vagueness, Ambiguity, and All the Rest: Linguistic and pragmatic approaches, 2024