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Word for presenting facts, but also being at pains to not infer anything beyond those facts

English Language & Usage Asked on July 14, 2021

"They only stated heavily ???? facts"

They were careful to only state facts and were even at pains to explicitly clarify that those facts did not imply other things that people might usually infer. AKA, they were scared of getting sued.

Closest I can think of is ‘clarified’ or ‘tempered’ but I think there must be better.

4 Answers

The simple basic statement “They stated facts” is qualified by the adverbs only and heavily (which adds a note of emphasis).

The restriction of the implications of the facts or of the inferences to be drawn from them is mainly achieved by the use of only rather than by the choice of adjective for facts.

The choice of adjective must therefore at least be consistent with, and perhaps reinforce, that restriction. Among others, I consequently suggest adjectives such as proven, plain, incontrovertible, bare.

unembellished: lacking embellishment or elaboration (as with decorative elements or fanciful details) : not embellished. "a plain, unembellished room", " unembellished facts"

incontrovertible: not open to question : indisputable

plain: : lacking ornament, undecorated, free of extraneous matter, pure

bare: having nothing left over or added

Merriam Webster

These adjectives are consistent with the facts’ being unembellished, not misleading, legally demonstrable, uncoloured by subjectivity. This adds to the similar implications of only.

Correct answer by Anton on July 14, 2021

You're making a heavy weather of this. Why not simply say They only stated facts germane to the situation. If the context however implies that suing is a possibility, you'd have to add lest anyone would misconstrue them.

being at once relevant and appropriate : FITTING

Omit details that are not germane to the discussion.

[Merriam-Webster]

Answered by user405662 on July 14, 2021

  • They stated the unadorned truth.

unadorned [adjective]

  1. Without addition, decoration, or qualification:

bald, bare, dry, plain, simple, [plain and simple,] unvarnished.

[The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus]

  • We do not expect him to portray the world creatively, but to tell us the unadorned truth about things as they really are.

[HelloEnglish.com]

Answered by Edwin Ashworth on July 14, 2021

As I understand it, it's not simply a matter of not elaborating. They are not elaborating, exaggerating, insinuating, or suggesting anything. They are not "volunteering" anything, as they say, which might incriminate themselves.

In that case, it's paring down "the whole truth" part. It is the truth...and nothing but the truth, but some facts have been dissected or pruned (heavily or carefully). You can't weigh facts not in evidence; that's a fact. See example of usage: carefully pruned facts (second to last paragraph; NPR).

As suggested, perhaps there is a term for this in legal jargon or you could rework or simplify the sentence instead.

Answered by KannE on July 14, 2021

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