vague


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I guess

 and I expect; I suppose; I suspect 
1. a phrase that introduces a supposition. (Frequently, in speech, suppose is reduced to 'spose, and expect and suspect are reduced to 'spect. The apostrophe is not always shown.) Bob: I guess it's going to rain. Bill: Oh, I don't know. Maybe so, maybe not. Alice: I expect you'll be wanting to leave pretty soon. John: Why? It's early yet.
2. a vague way of answering 'yes'. John: You want some more coffee? Jane: I 'spose. Alice: Ready to go? John: I spect.
See also: guess

I guess not.

 and (I) don't think so.; I expect not.; I suppose not.; I suspect not.; I think not.
a vague statement of negation. (More polite or gentle than simply saying no. Frequently, in speech, suppose is reduced to 'spose, and expect and suspect are reduced to 'spect. The apostrophe is not always shown.) Bill: It's almost too late to go to the movie. Shall we try anyway? Mary: I guess not. Tom: Will it rain? Mary: I 'spect not.
See also: guess, not

I guess (so).

 and I believe so.; I expect (so).; I suppose (so).; I suspect (so).; I think so.
a vague expression of assent. (Frequently, in speech, suppose is reduced to 'spose, and expect and suspect are reduced to 'spect. The apostrophe is not always shown.) Tom: Will it rain today? Bob: I suppose so. Sue: Happy? Bill: I 'spect. Sue: You don't sound happy. Bill: I guess not.
See also: guess
References in classic literature ?
The first of our vague but indubitable data is that there is knowledge of the past.
There are occasions when familiarity does not attach itself to any definite object, when there is merely a vague feeling that SOMETHING is familiar.
At the same time, if we accept the vague datum with which we began, to the effect that, in some sense, there is knowledge of the past, we shall have to find, if we can, such an account of the present occurrence in remembering as will make it not impossible for remembering to give us knowledge of the past.
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They began to feel a vague fear that they had been doing wrong to run away; and next they thought of the stolen meat, and then the real torture came.
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The vague terror of public opinion weighed generally on them all; but there were private and particular horrors on the minds of individuals.
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If there's going to be any trouble I want to be there," was his vague reflection, as he threw to Jotham the unexpected order to unhitch the team and lead them back to the barn.
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Under the influence of these impressions, the doctor, from time to time, thought that he heard vague sounds in the vast forests around him; he even fancied that he saw a swift gleam of fire shining between the trees.
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Grown careless from months of continued safety, during which time he had seen no dangerous animals during the daylight hours, he had left his rifles and revolvers all within the little cabin, and now that he saw the great ape crashing through the underbrush directly toward him, and from a direction which practically cut him off from escape, he felt a vague little shiver play up and down his spine.
Her first words filled Clayton with vague apprehension.
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And this movement of reconstruction of which Prince Andrew had a vague idea, and Speranski its chief promoter, began to interest him so keenly that the question of the army regulations quickly receded to a secondary place in his consciousness.
He told the count of his interview with Sila Andreevich (Kochubey spoke of Arakcheev by that nickname with the same vague irony Prince Andrew had noticed in the Minister of War's anteroom).
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But, I hear you objecting, why is it that these racial memories are not ours as well, seeing that we have a vague other-personality that falls through space while we sleep?
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5) In rejecting the city's request, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that the ordinance violated due process of law because it was unconstitutionally vague and lent itself to arbitrary enforcement.
Combating gangs: the need for innovation
Une vague de repression de l'armee a suivi, avec incendies de villages et meurtres de civils soupconne l'ONU, ayant conduit a la fuite au Bangladesh voisin de plus de 650.
Birmanie: 40 villages rohingyas incendies en deux mois
Instead, they have been offered with a vague statement with no specific guarantees at all.
Benefits breakthrough for the disabled and ill; Thousands will be exempt from reassessments
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