Vitamins May--or May Not--Shorten Your Life

Lots to chew on in a recent study that concludes that taking vitamin supplements may shorten your lifespan. Look at how much is hanging on that single word “may.” Vitamins may shorten your life--or they may not. The researchers and the journalists writing about the study are definitely hedging their bets.

The closer you look at health stories, the more you realize that “may” and other hedge words are used pretty regularly. Sometimes that’s unavoidable. But I have found over the years that the word “may” frequently hides sloppy thinking or writing.

Interesting side note: users of British English typically use “could” in situations where American English speakers would use “may.”

So keep an eye out for “may,” “could,” and other hedge words like “many” or “often.” Sometimes they reflect unavoidable scientific uncertainty. But more often (notice the hedge), they hide laziness on the part of the writer.

I'll have more to say on this vitamin study in future posts.