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> The material was obtained a week before the attempted coup. However, WikiLeaks has moved forward its publication schedule in response to the government's post
by Bromskloss 10y ago
> The material was obtained a week before the attempted coup. However, WikiLeaks has moved forward its publication schedule in response to the government's post-coup purges.
Unclear wording. Does moving "forward" mean to do something earlier than planned? Were we supposed to expect some other publication date when told that "the material was obtained a week before the attempted coup"?
- firewalkwithme 10y agoYes
- Bromskloss 10y agoUnclear wording. Which of the questions are you answering?
- jsprogrammer 10y agoThe answer applies to both of your questions. I do agree that the answer could have been worded more clearly.
- dimino 10y agoSimply stating "Unclear wording" is not going to work very well if you want answers, and is mildly antagonistic.
- Bromskloss 10y agoI thought it was funny to reuse the same expression. Maybe I should have embellished my utterance with one of them fancy smiling faces.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago> However, WikiLeaks has moved forward its publication schedule in response to the government's post-coup purges. This would be considered clear wording by proficient English speakers, 'However' sets up the clause, and 'has moved forward its publication schedule in response to..' is pretty self explanatory. Generally one does not need to write "Wikileaks had publication of the material planned for a later date than today." -- "has moved forward" implies the former.
- Bromskloss 10y ago> 'However' sets up the clause, and 'has moved forward its publication schedule in response to..' is pretty self explanatory. I think it requires the reader to perform an unfortunate extra step or two of inference. It seems preferable, in my humble opinion, to avoid this in situations where you want to be sure that you are expressing yourself unambiguously.
- lunula 10y agoIt seems perfectly unambiguous to me. However, ambiguousness may have been an intended affect of the statement.
- 1wd 10y agoIf "moving forward" means "moving to an earlier date", does that mean we experience time backwards (moving to later dates)?
- x1798DE 10y agoNo, the metaphor is more like with a line/queue. You move can move an event "up" or "forward" in the same way you move something to the front of a line. The opposite is to push something back (i.e. away from you).
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- lucb1e 10y agoYou're being downvoted but I find that unfair. It's clear to me because the phrase "moving an event forward" is commonly used like this, but looking at the basic meaning of the word, it should mean the same as "postponed". (If I move something "forward", it would appear later on an agenda or other timeline.) To answer your question: Wikileaks moved the publication to an earlier date. They apparently wanted to release it later (probably to prepare better), but thought it was relevant because of the coup attempt.
- Bromskloss 10y agoThank you. Your reading coincides with my best guess. Regarding clarity, I avoid using "forward" and "backward" with regards to time.
- Bromskloss 10y ago> Regarding clarity, I avoid using "forward" and "backward" with regards to time. That came out wrong. I don't avoid talking about a forward and a backward direction of time. What I avoid is saying that a planned event has been moved forward or backward, because people have different ideas of which means which.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> Does moving "forward" mean to do something earlier than planned? Yes, conventionally, in English (well, at least, American English, and I've seen it frequently enough in British English usage that it seems to be the same there, but its at least possible that its not universal), "moving forward" the time of a planned event means moving it earlier in time, while "moving back" the time of a planned event means moving it later in time. "Forward/back" here is similar to closer/farther from the head of queue.