soft option
- noun
:
opción fácil
- It's a soft option and means we are making our decisions based on fear of what may happen instead of belief in what could happen.
Examples
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To be honest, given Steve's technical background, I was always fearful that he would think I was a bit of a soft option after Peter.
Blog text (9) -
A nation that understands when the soft options are gone, only hard choices remain.
Blog text (27) -
Choosing to avoid the difficult conversation was just taking the soft option rather than facing the truth.
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Many students see studying less for the exam as a soft option compared to putting in the necessary effort.
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The team selected the soft option of delaying the project instead of tackling the issues head-on.
How Easy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an easier course of action' is directly and predictably composed from 'soft' (meaning lenient/easier, not hard) + 'option' (a choice). This is a regular adjective+noun compositional pattern (similar to 'easy option' in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Soft option may come from the image of a soft cushion or gentle path someone takes instead of a 'hard' road, so the option means the easier choice taken to avoid difficulty.