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One of my favorite media phrases is "cautiously optimistic." It means nothing while it sounds important. Can you think of a situation where it wouldn't apply? (Apocalypse to Strike Earth, Experts Cautiously Optimistic). See! You can't go wrong.

A few years ago, Neil Westergaard wrote:

What a great all-purpose, meaningless qualifier to keep from looking stupid. It's much better than just saying "I don't know." It implies that that the person really does know something important, but is being conservative and careful in the distribution of information, holding back the unverifiable facts for the good of the republic.

Or covering their behinds.

"Cautiously optimistic." If the economy goes into the dumper again, we can say our earlier caution was warranted. If things pick up, we were right to be optimistic and "knew it all along."

Economists Cautiously Optimistic About 2007

I hope they're right.

Posted by edelfenbein at January 2, 2007 11:12 AM