We love accuracy. But we’ll throw it in the trash when given the chance to emphasize something we think is important.
When we say “nobody was there” we can mean that no human was there. However, we also say it when only a few people showed up.
People say both. And we get what they mean.
In that moment, an accurate account is rarely the only thing we want to communicate.
Absolutes are performative.
People don’t say “99.6% of the people said yes.” We all round up. Why? Because we just do. It’s almost more accurate to say everyone.
What we want is emphatic context.
When someone says “nobody showed up” when three real live humans actually did set foot in the place, including them, mind you, they’re emphasizing that they expected more.
So a few people is the same to them as none. They’re rounding down. “Nobody showed.”
We are communicating value.
Most of the time, we don’t care. At all. Nobody. All. Never. Always. These words are so rarely accurate, we may as well recognize we’re all using them for emphasis.
Don’t be pedantic. We know what we mean. Either way, we should focus on what we’re actually trying to say.