Is there an alternative to saying "so-called" which doesn't suggest potential falsehood?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨PlogLod@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

As we see there are 2 meanings of “so-called” that can be confused or misinterpreted, of which one implies falsehood and the other doesn’t.

to show that something or someone is commonly designated by the name or term specified.

"Western Countries belonging to the so-called Paris club"

used to express one’s view that such a name or term is inappropriate.

“she could trust him more than any of her so-called friends”

Since so-called I feel is very often used to suggest that a title for something describes a meaning that isn’t necessarily accurate, what’s another term that simply expresses that something is titled something without judgment of the title?

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Comments

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reddig33@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
“Referred to as…” “Known as…”

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olsonexi@lemmy.wtf ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I would use “what’s known as”, e.g. “Western countries belong to what’s known as the Paris club”

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- Zoomboingding@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Colloquially
  
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xantoxis@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
The problem here, linguistically, is that any phrase which means this will take on the meaning of falsehood automatically, over time. It’s the same way that any respectable word that means “has a disability” eventually comes to be an insult and then a slur.

If you want to say something like that, the word “putative” is still pretty unfettered by negative connotations, but only because few people use it. If it were in common use, it would follow the same path as “so-called”. A more reliable approach in the long-term is to say what you mean using more words instead of fewer:

She could trust him more than any of her friends; although she wasn’t sure those people were really her friends, it remained to be seen.

It’s actually the length and awkwardness of the sentence structure that makes it resistant to misinterpretation.

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- all-knight-party@kbin.run ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I agree, even if you use another word like alleged, the word is in the sentence strictly to draw attention to the fact that the following information is of questionable validity, so by nature casts suspicion and distrust, even if the intent for the distrust is protective of the audience in a positive fashion.
  
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- dezmd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  So you’re saying verbosity allows for more exactness of meaning, at the expense of the convenient efficiency of expecting inference to be employed by the recipient(s) of the message(s)?
  
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- DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  You’re right, but the “so-called” only becomes suspicious when it’s included unnecessarily.
  
  From OPs example if you just omit it the sentence is fine and doesn’t imply that the friends are not actually friends.
  
  In the first type of usage, “so-called” provides information that the reader is unaware of, so it’s use does not imply the name is inappropriate.
  
  In the second type of usage it’s presumed the reader already knows the name, inserting “so-called” emphasises that the subject has whatever name.
  
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TerrificTadpole@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I would just drop the “so-called” and put the term in quotes.

“Western countries belonging to the ‘Paris club.’”

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- olsonexi@lemmy.wtf ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s often also used in the other way though, e.g.
  
  she could trust him more than any of her “friends”
  
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  - HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Don’t use the quote marks.
    
    So called or quote for negative, neither for truthful/neutral statement.
    
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Lightrider@lemmynsfw.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ostensibly

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- amio@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Suggests even more strongly that it's not "real". "He went out that night, ostensibly to find a debtor."
  
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detalferous@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Putative: pyoo͞′tə-tĭv adjective Generally regarded as such; supposed. Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed. Commonly believed or deemed to be the case; accepted by supposition rather than as a result of proof.

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- weariedfae@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Yep, this is frequently used in my industry (science), depending on the person.
  
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pezmaker@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
“as it’s called” or “as they’re called”? It’s a bit wordier but I think conveys the meaning you’re going for without the negative connotation. I also think context should usually direct a reader/listener to or from any negative connotation for the “so called” usage. That said, it doesn’t hurt to be clearer.

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Uvine_Umbra@partizle.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I believe “per se” can be used in that context too… per se

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malamignasanmig@group.lt ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
aka

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- seaQueue@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  “Western countries belonging to the group known as the Paris Club” works too
  
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  - malamignasanmig@group.lt ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    yup. in my mind, ka is included in the aka
    
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jbrains@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
“what is (generally/widely/typically/often) known as” comes to mind. Any variation of that would do the job.

It can also work not to use any term, but rather to introduce the name without fanfare. This implies a neutrality of judgment. “Western countries belonging to the ‘Paris Club’.” Even in speech one can often hear the introduction of a term by subtle changes in tone of voice.

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scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

Western Countries belonging to the “Paris Club.”

Using quotes indicates directly that this is being relayed as something someone else says or said.

It is factual and has less obvious shade than “so-called.” But someone could still say it can be used to cast shade:

My son’s “friend” stole his school lunch.

This is arguably irony, where you say the exact opposite of what is meant. So I’m not sure that invalidates it.

But some hint of shade could be unavoidable since any time you report anything as something someone says, you introduce the possibility that that other party is fallible. Hearsay is inherently suspect. Why are you telling me what someone else said? Don’t you know yourself whether it is true?

But I don’t think using quotes necessarily jumps out as a way to mark something suspect.

Scientists have been searching for a “theory of everything”

the “Cambrian explosion” saw new forms of life evolve

he was enamored with “crew cab” trucks.

Pretty neutral. This might work, with the exception of deliberate irony.

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agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Hmm, every option I thought of has itself a dual-meaning.

Designated, denominated, entitled, dubbed. I suppose choose the one least likely to be confused for its homonym in the specific context.

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- amio@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Or just rewrite the sentence. Perfectly cromulent when you're getting stuck in the thesaurus and having a hard time finding the "ideal" word.
  
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boblin@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Quote-and-quote?

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- PlogLod@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I think quote-unquote can have the same implications, unfortunately, but good one I hadn’t thought of. Maybe there’s more.
  
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  - otter@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    What about “commonly referred to” or “often termed”
    
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HardlightCereal@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
She could trust him more than any of her apparent friends

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- DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  “… alleged friends” ?
  
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