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104 points Suggger | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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skybrian ◴[] No.46237094[source]
Maybe there's a difference in frequency of usage, but we also say things like "he's not wrong" pretty often in English.
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crote ◴[] No.46237425[source]
I reckon a decept part of that is due to American English vs. British English.

A great example of this is the Korean War, where a British brigadier in an extremely difficult situation told an American general "Things are a bit sticky, sir" - who interpreted it as "Could be better, but we're holding the line". The misunderstanding resulted in 500 dead and captured.

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1. paleotrope ◴[] No.46239994[source]
Is that really the same thing? We aren't just talking about understatement.