Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and politics and government spin
Tests: 1 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 5 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 23 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.
Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗
"ugh, the concert ticket was 40 but they added a convenience fee of 6" — how much did they pay in all?
- 1. 34 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 46 — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 6 — no support
- 4. 40 — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
News: "The minister said yesterday's figures were wrong and that he had misspoken." What does this admit?
- 1. That he was misheard — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. That his microphone broke — no support
- 3. That what he said was false — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. That he spoke in French — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
A cereal box says "New look, same great taste!" and it costs the same. What should a shopper check?
- 1. Whether the taste changed — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Whether there is a toy — no support
- 3. Whether the colour is nice — no support
- 4. Whether the box has less in it — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
"Lol it's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature" — what is the speaker really saying?
- 1. It is a secret extra — no support
- 2. It is a bug, said as a joke — ✓ the right answer · score 7
- 3. It is a manual — no support
- 4. It is a planned feature for later — ← Mova's choice · score 11
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 11, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 23, line 3: «Programmers joke that a bug is an "undocumented feature", and a firm that lost a fortune may call it "a learning experience".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «bug» (+3); the same thing acted on «undocumented feature» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
The app maker writes: "We are sunsetting this app on 1 May." What will happen?
- 1. The app will only work at sunset — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The app will get a dark mode — no support
- 3. The app will stop being available — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The app will become free — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
Taxi prices doubled during the storm. What is this called?
- 1. A user fee — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A service charge — no support
- 3. A price cut — no support
- 4. Dynamic pricing — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
Report: "Our sales fell because of headwinds and challenging trading conditions." What does the firm admit?
- 1. Business went brilliantly — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Business went badly — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Staff traded jobs — no support
- 4. The wind blew down the shop — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." What happened?
- 1. The staff went on a course — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The firm opened a school — no support
- 3. The firm lost a lot of money — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The firm won a prize — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
A politician says: "This is not a tax rise, it is revenue enhancement." Is it a tax rise?
- 1. No, it is a new bank — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yes, it is a tax rise with a softer name — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. No, it is a tax cut — no support
- 4. No, it is a kind gift to all the people of the country — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗
Jake says: "Alternative facts are facts from a different book, so they're true too." Is he right?
- 1. Yes, they are just as true — no support
- 2. No, the phrase is used for falsehoods — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Yes, they are newer facts — ← Mova's choice · score 8
- 4. No, they are facts about other planets — score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1, line 6: «"Passed away" means died; it is the polite, kind word.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «fact» (+4); the same thing acted on «polite kind word» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
"the bank still runs on some legacy system from the 80s, total pain" — what does the bank use?
- 1. Paper only — score 2
- 2. Old, outdated software — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 3. Brand new software — score 2
- 4. Software from a famous will — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 23, line 13: «"Legacy system" means old, outdated software.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «old outdated software» (+2); the same property (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
An auditor (someone who checks a firm's money records) finds "creative accounting" in the books. What has she found?
- 1. Pretty drawings in the margins — no support
- 2. Misleading or dishonest figures — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. A new art budget — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 4. Very accurate figures — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 21, line 11: «"Outplacement" means help given to fired workers to find new jobs.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+4); the same action «find» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal meaning of the expression "economical with the truth" as applied to a public official's statement.
- 1. The statement was brief but entirely accurate — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The statement was delivered without remuneration — no support
- 3. The statement was untruthful or omitted material facts — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The statement reduced public expenditure — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
It is given that a corporation has designated a defect in its software a "known issue". Select the response consistent with the established facts.
- 1. The defect has been fully rectified — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The defect is a deliberate enhancement — no support
- 3. The defect is acknowledged but remains unrectified — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The defect has never been observed by any user — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the practice of "dynamic pricing"?
- 1. The elevation of prices at times of heightened demand — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 2. The reduction of prices at fixed intervals — no support
- 3. The publication of prices in vivid colours — no support
- 4. The maintenance of identical prices throughout the year — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 23, line 19: «"Dynamic pricing" means raising prices when demand is high, that is, when lots of people want to buy.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «raise» (+2); the same thing acted on «prices» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Ascertain the plain meaning of "revenue enhancement" when employed by a legislator in respect of fiscal policy.
- 1. A reduction in taxation — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. An increase in public salaries — no support
- 3. An increase in taxation — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. An improvement to the collection website — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/