Occam's broom
- noun
- /ˈɑːkəmz bruːm/
:
escoba de Occam
- When writing his report, he swept the contradictions under Occam's broom, leaving out essential details.
Examples
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The politician was accused of wielding Occam's broom to dismiss inconvenient statistics.
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Some scientists warn that using Occam's broom can undermine the integrity of research findings.
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Don't let them use Occam's broom on this important topic!
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Politicians often use Occam's broom to simplify complex issues.
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The scientist cautioned that using Occam's broom could lead to misleading conclusions by ignoring critical data.
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In his analysis, the journalist pointed out how the committee applied Occam's broom to overlook troubling evidence.
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Many experts believe that relying on Occam's broom often results in a flawed understanding of intricate problems.
Synonyms
10
7.0
Making something seem simpler than it really is by leaving out important details
Act of treating a problem as simpler than it is by ignoring important details
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
Occam's + broom
The noun 'broom' evokes the metaphor of 'sweeping away', which partially signals the idea of removing or ignoring things, so there is some compositional clue. However, the modifier 'Occam's' relies on cultural/technical knowledge of Occam's razor and the rhetorical use of Occam's, which a B1 learner who only knows the surface words is unlikely to possess, making the expression only partially predictable.
Etymology
Occam's broom comes from the picture of a broom sweeping messy facts and problems away so only a neat, simple story remains. So, it means 'ignoring or hiding inconvenient facts on purpose to make something seem simpler'.