[Lexicog] arguably

[Patrick Hanks]

It IS funny that the adjective "arguable" is (potentially) an antonym of itself, but bear 
in mind that the second sense ("not obviously true") is rare.

Prompted by this discussion, I looked at the 628 occurrences of the adverb "arguably" 
in the British National Corpus. The following points at least are worth noting:

1. "arguably" is a sentence adverb,  i.e., like "fortunately", "sadly", "broadly", "broadly 
speaking", etc., it expresses the attitude of the writer or speaker to what he or she is 
saying -- rather than modifying a verb or an adjective directly. This particular sentence 
adverb seeks to "objectivize" the opinion being expressed by hinting coyly that there 
might be good rational arguments to support it, without actually saying what they are.

2. The adverb only has the sense "It could be argued that."  It never means "not
obviously true".  (Asymmetry of this kind between adv. and adj. is more common 
than English dictionacties acknoweldge -- compare "lamely" for example.  The adj. 
"lame" has two senses, but in normal use -- i.e. excluding the imagination of linguists -- 
the adv. "lamely" has only one sense, namely "inadequately", NOT "with an injured leg".)

3. The statement  is almost always an evaluation or comparison on a scale of some kind (sometimes implied, more often explicit, and very often with a superlative, expressing the 
top of the scale):

    ... arguably her best novel ...
    ... arguably one of the most powerful people in Hollywood...  
    ... N.C. is arguably the most over-rated linguist since Horne Took  [I made this one up]
   Charles ... had a claim to the French throne which was arguably as good as Edward III's.
   Comedy ... is arguably a higher skill [than tragedy], as many a performer knows.
   The form of dependence of the world upon God suggested by Aquinas ... is arguably a continuous rather than an initial dependence. 


Patrick 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Pomázi Gyöngyi 
  To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2005 10:50 PM
  Subject: Re: [Lexicog] arguably


  Arguable has two meanings, 1. something is true, many people would agree with it, 2. something is not obviously true or correct (Collins).
  You can use arguably when you are stating your opinion or belief, as a way of giving more authorithy to it. 

  But funny, you are right.

  Gwen
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Wayne Leman 
    To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
    Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2005 10:35 PM
    Subject: [Lexicog] arguably


    Could someone on the list help me understand the word "arguably"? I hear it 
    used a lot. I think I understand what it means. I've read its dictionary 
    meanings. I didn't grow up hearing or using it. Is there some "hook" to 
    remember what it means. My brain has gotten it backwards, I think, where it 
    seems to me that "unarguably" would make more sense instead of saying 
    "arguably." If we have to argue over something it's not clear to everyone.

    "Chomsky is arguably the greatest linguist who has every lived."

    Well, of course, we can quibble over the claim of that sentence, but how can 
    I get it into my head what "arguably" means there?

    Thanks,
    Wayne Leman 



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