Learn English – word that describes a statement whose negative is senseless or would otherwise never be used

word-choice

Consider the statement "I like to have fun" or "I like to spend time with my friends".

These border on tautologies though I don't think they would be considered as such by most. Although these statements purport meaning, the are in fact devoid of it.

For example, "fun" is by definition something people like to do, so to say "I like to have fun" is redundant. Similarly, "friends" are people that you like to hang out with, so to say "I like to spend time with my friends" is again redundant.

To me, these statements are empty of meaning but don't quite fully fall under the category of something that is trite or vapid. The fact that their opposites, "I don't like to have fun" or "I don't like to spend time with my friends" would rarely, if ever, be in circulation (except in some pathological cases), begs for a term that reaches beyond the concept of a "empty" or "unoriginal" idea and captures this implication I describe above about its opposite.

Personal ads such as online dating profiles are replete with these phrases. I can't help but feel that there's a specific word to describe them.

Best Answer

Such statements are platitudes.

From Wikipedia:

A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, generally directed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The word derives from plat, French word for "flat." Platitudes are geared towards presenting a shallow, unifying wisdom over a difficult topic. However, they are too overused and general to be anything more than undirected statements with ultimately little meaningful contribution towards a solution.

Examples could be statements such as "Meet in the middle", "Everybody has a right to an opinion", "Everything happens for a reason", "It is what it is", "Do what you can", "Just be yourself", "God works in mysterious ways" and "Nobody's perfect".

Platitudes are generally a form of thought-terminating cliché.

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