betting on the facts

Mon Sep 18 00:52:35 UTC 2006

yet another case of bleached "fact", this time meaning 'likelihood,
possibility', i.e. 'something likely/possible to be true'.  yeah, i
know, there are a million of 'em out there.  hey, true fact!

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Susan Rice, of Brookings, interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition
Sunday, 9/17/06, about the situation in the Sudan:

Right now, I think the government of Sudan is betting that the United
States is distracted...  They're betting on the fact that we can't
get our act together and have sufficient resolve two months before a
mid-term election.  And they're betting on the fact that their
friends the Chinese and the Russians in the Security Council will
protect them...

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org