Beating about the Bush: Figleaves, Hedges, and Politeness

Abstract Philosopher Jennifer Saul (2017, 2021, 2024) coined the term ‘figleaf’ to refer to parts of speech which obscure bigotry and/or falsehoods in other utterances. As this device predominantly manifests in language, this article explores their function from a linguistic perspective, situating them in theories of meaning and politeness. I compare their mechanism to linguistic hedges, characterising both as ‘attenuators’ (devices which modulate speaker commitment) which ultimately motivates a novel definition of hedging that incorporates the perlocutionary dimension central to figleaves.