This is the 2nd Best Article You Will Read this Hour

I love distinctions.

I love them because they are an easy way to provide some level of credibility to a person or object without causing much controversy.

For example, here’s a distinctive statement that causes controversy:

“Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the history of the NFL”

How about I fine tune that distinction in a way that avoids almost all controversy:

“Peyton Manning is one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.”

See what I did there? I added a specific distinction that allowed me to praise Peyton Manning’s skills without inciting an endless debate about whether or not he is the best. This is a pretty common practice.

But that’s not what I love. I think I misled you. I love vague distinctions, like this Daily Beast article that called Green Day’s Dookie album the “second most influential rock album of the 1990s.”

Brilliant! This article doesn’t argue it’s the best, or even second best, but that it’s the second most influential. That’s a lot harder to debate. Even if you firmly believe another album was more influential, it’s not as easy to debate that it should deserve to be in second place.

One of my favorite arenas for vague distinctions is pro sports. Because the best players are all well defined, we often see announcers and analysts using distinction to praise a player. Often time these distinctions are statements that couldn’t possibly be debated:

“He’s got the best third-down vision of any running back in the NFL”

“He’s probably the best at executing on the two on one fast break in the NBA.”

“She is, without a doubt, the best player on clay in the world in non-major tournaments.”

So, just remember. When you want to praise something but don’t want to totally commit, use a vague distinction!

Because honestly, have you really read two better articles this hour?