2022-01-26 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C - consensus

Revision C

2022-01-26

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C - consensus

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Dictionary.com:

ออกเสียง consensus = “kuhn-SEN-suhs”

 

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:

Consensus

Often misspelled and misused, 

consensus means “general agreement” or “collective opinion.”

The word is related to sense and has no connection with census.

The phrase “consensus of opinion” has been 

used so freely and wildly that it is a stock expression; 

however, it is wordy (of opinion is not needed to express the thought) and is now a hackneyed term.

 

Collins English Dictionary:

Usage: 

Since consensus refers to a collective opinion, 

the words of opinion in the phrase consensus of opinion 

are redundant and should therefore be avoided

 

Dictionary.com:

USAGE NOTE FOR CONSENSUS

Many say that the phrase 

consensus of opinion is redundant and 

hence should be avoided: 

The committee's statement represented a consensus of opinion. 

 

The expression is redundant, however, 

only if consensus is taken in the sense 

“majority of opinion” rather than in its equally valid

and earlier sense “general agreement or concord.” 

 

Criticism of consensus of opinion has been so persistent and widespread 

that the phrase, even though in common use, 

occurs only infrequently in edited formal writing. 

The phrase general consensus is objected to for similar reasons. 

Consensus is now widely used attributively, 

especially in the phrase consensus politics.

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Is the phrase consensus of opinion redundant?: 

Usage Guide

The phrase consensus of opinion, 

which is not actually redundant 

(see sense 1a; the sense that takes the phrase is slightly older), 

has been so often claimed to be a redundancy 

that many writers avoid it. 

 

You are safe in using consensus alone

when it is clear you mean consensus of opinion, 

and most writers in fact do so.

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Usage Notes

Is 'consensus of opinion' redundant?

Many people find comfort in certainty (or at least in the illusion of it), 

both in language and in life, 

eschewing wherever possible the messiness of ambiguity. 

For example, 

we can usually find certainty when considering moral matters 

and the like, but insofar as language is concerned, 

finding that level of clarity can sometimes be a troublesome endeavor. 

Take, for example, the issue of redundancy.

We seem to allow certain kinds of redundancy, 

particularly when they're not immediately apparent, 

or when they provide some benefit, 

such as improved clarity or a euphonious meter.

An example of this permissible redundancy 

is found in Shakespeare’s Richard II, in which he wrote 

“And both return back to their chairs” 

(if they return, it is redundant to also use back). 

 

Other forms of redundancy, 

such as ATM machine, stick in the craws of many 

(as the non-abbreviated form of this would be automatic teller machine). 

 

But while one of these clearly feels right to most people 

and the other sounds discordant, 

English provides us with many less obvious cases, 

such as consensus of opinion.

 

This combination of words 

has been widely shunned by many usage guides over the past century, based on the notion that 

consensus carries the meaning “collective opinion” 

and therefore the word opinion is not necessary. 

 

However, the “opinion” sense of consensus 

is but one of several possible meanings, 

and claiming that it should never be paired with opinion 

is perhaps an overly strict interpretation.

 

The “collective opinion” sense of consensus 

includes the idea of “judgment arrived at by most of those concerned,”

which does not typically indicate unanimity: 

when paired with consensus used in this way, 

using opinion can bring us perilously close to a logical redundancy. 

 

However, another meaning of consensus is 

“general agreement; unanimity,” 

and when added to this sense opinion is not so redundant. 

Both of these senses

appear to have originated in mid-19th century English, 

and we have been using consensus of opinion for over 150 years now.

 

In spite of the century-long campaign against this turn of phrase 

consensus of opinion may still be found in well-edited and respectable publications, albeit with less frequency than it had previously enjoyed.

 

Our usage guide advises that 

although consensus of opinion is not actually redundant, 

many nonetheless believe it is 

and your use of the phrase may run the risk of censure. 

 

If you're not one to heed the (albeit mistaken) consensus of opinion 

on this particular subject, 

you can rest assured that your position is defensible.

 

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary:

usage: 

The expression consensus of opinion is sometimes 

criticized as being redundant on the basis that 

consensus alone conveys the meaning. 

Although the redundancy argument is weakened 

if consensus is taken in its earlier and valid sense 

of “general agreement or concord,” 

the criticism against this phrase has been so persistent 

that consensus of opinion occurs only infrequently 

in edited formal writing. 

The phrase general consensus is also objected to as redundant.