Defining ideas and drawing distinctions

C2 · 100 entries · Five themes

Defining ideas and drawing distinctions

Created by , British English teacher.

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1. Categories and prototypes (20 entries)
  1. exhaustive classification
  2. typology
  3. a category boundary
  4. a prototype effect
  5. a nominal distinction
  6. a composite category
  7. a hard-and-fast distinction
  8. class membership
  9. a difference in kind
  10. a distinction without a difference
  11. an analytic distinction
  12. an ontological distinction
  13. a conceptual blind spot
  14. substantive equivalence
  15. mutually constitutive
  16. a contingent feature
  17. conceptual slippage
  18. an organising principle
  19. allegorical
  20. an essential attribute
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2. Definition and scope (20 entries)
  1. in one's capacity as
  2. a binding precedent
  3. to the best of one's knowledge
  4. within someone's remit
  5. on the express understanding that
  6. decision-making authority
  7. delimit a concept
  8. a binding constraint
  9. act with impunity
  10. a capacity ceiling
  11. delegated discretion
  12. proprietary
  13. key-person dependency
  14. a dotted reporting line
  15. a top-heavy hierarchy
  16. rework costs
  17. implementation fidelity
  18. imposition
  19. capacity utilisation
  20. proprietorial
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3. Necessary and sufficient conditions (20 entries)
  1. to all intents and purposes
  2. be open to the objection that
  3. venture an interpretation
  4. beyond all reasonable dispute
  5. make due allowance for
  6. short of conclusive proof
  7. with the important proviso that
  8. only in so far as
  9. a moot distinction
  10. give qualified assent
  11. at a stretch
  12. subject to the proviso that
  13. not altogether without merit
  14. all other things being equal
  15. that is as may be
  16. with reservations
  17. insofar as that goes
  18. make allowance for
  19. save insofar as
  20. deficient
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4. Similarity and discrepancy (20 entries)
  1. a fundamental mismatch
  2. a principled distinction
  3. a misleading parallel
  4. diversity of interpretation
  5. a persistent discrepancy
  6. a partial correspondence
  7. a telling contrast
  8. a material divergence
  9. disjunction
  10. a striking convergence
  11. homogeneity
  12. commensurability
  13. disparity
  14. a superficial resemblance
  15. convergence
  16. congruence
  17. heterogeneity
  18. discontinuity
  19. affinity
  20. a difference of degree
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5. Precision and degrees of certainty (20 entries)
  1. vanishingly small
  2. by no stretch of the imagination
  3. inestimable
  4. extraneous
  5. preponderance
  6. of no small consequence
  7. disproportion
  8. pivotal
  9. overriding
  10. infinitesimal
  11. unqualified
  12. a slim margin for error
  13. primacy
  14. by the narrowest of margins
  15. in the realm of speculation
  16. predominance
  17. a racing certainty
  18. a matter of conjecture
  19. within a whisker of
  20. turn on a distinction
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