Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/27377
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I posted this over on the Eng Lang Stack, but they say it likely is more apropos here.

Terms like 'make whole', 'encumbered', etc have both non-financial/non-legal usages and financial/legal usages and, in some cases, explicit financial/legal definitions.

To avoid technical connotations, to avoid the possibility of a sentence being read as a legal statement, an obvious workaround is to swap in such a synonym. But synonyms may not exist, or when one does exist, the sentence may unacceptably degrade.

Another remedy is to include a phrase such as 'colloquially speaking'. But the deprecation could be inappropriate.

What are other ways to minimize the chance of a sentence from being misconstrued in this way? Is there an adjective or modifer that accomplishes this?

Fictitious examples:

**A divorce can _make whole_ both parties.** (google: "make whole" divorce. For example: [http://www.divorcecentral.com/lifeline/life\_ans.html](http://www.divorcecentral.com/lifeline/life_ans.html). Make Whole in the sense of closure, in the sense of getting on with their lives.)

**The VA is a _monopoly_ on veteran healthcare.** (This sentence was spoken a few minutes ago by Senator Lindsey Graham at his Town Hall, see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzDvmLrK-s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzDvmLrK-s) at about 40:00. Monopoly in the sense the Veterans Administration is immune from competition.)

EDIT: Context is non-fiction, formal.

Original score: 3