---
title: Identify the principal meaning of the expression "economical with th… — Soft words for hard things: business a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal meaning of the expression "economical with the truth" as applied to a public official's statement. Exam question 1 of lesson 23 «Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and politics and government spin» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the d
---

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# Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal meaning of the expression "economical with the truth" as applied to a public official's statement.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, public official · **What happens:** identify, apply, mean, state · **To what, where:** principal meaning, expression

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 23 «Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and politics and government spin» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal meaning of the expression "economical with the truth" as applied to a public official's statement.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	economical	economical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
15	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	official	official	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	's	's	PART	POS	_	19	case	_	_
21	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **apply** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to a public official's statement | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **state** |  | a public official |  |  |  |  |  | nom statement «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The statement was brief but entirely accurate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:e1:o1:1
# text = The statement was brief but entirely accurate
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	brief	brief	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurate	accurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the statement |  |  |  |  | brief *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the statement *not said here* |  |  |  |  | entirely *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The statement was delivered without remuneration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:e1:o2:1
# text = The statement was delivered without remuneration
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	delivered	deliver	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	remuneration	remuneration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deliver** | past · passive |  | the statement |  |  |  | without remuneration | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The statement was untruthful or omitted material facts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:e1:o3:1
# text = The statement was untruthful or omitted material facts
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	untruthful	untruthful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	omitted	omit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
7	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the statement |  |  |  |  | untruthful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **omit** | participle | the statement *not said here* | material facts |  |  |  |  | vn exclude-107.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fact=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The statement reduced public expenditure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:e1:o4:1
# text = The statement reduced public expenditure
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reduced	reduce	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	expenditure	expenditure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reduce** | past | the statement | public expenditure |  |  |  |  | vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer expenditure=Patient |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: business a…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/t12/)
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