18 euphemisms for “I haven’t a f*cking clue” that make ignorance seem really intelligent

It’s well known that different professions have their own jargon that makes perfect sense to those in the know and is a mystery to everyone else. One important phrase that’s necessary for every profession is “I don’t know” or, more often, “Not a f_cking clue” – either way, people have been sharing their version because of this tweet.

What are the technical terms, in your field, for 'dunno'?
In medicine there's 'idoeopathic'
In archeology/anthropology there's 'ritual purposes'
How do you professionally term 'we haven't got a clue'?

— Hannawe'en 🎃🕸️ (@Hannah_Chutzpah) December 16, 2018

These are our 18 favourite euphemisms.

1.

In linguistics, calling a word a "pragmatic marker" is often a clear sign that we don't have a clue what it means. https://t.co/ej2abbl4W9

— George Wⓐlkden (@gwalkden) December 22, 2018

2.

https://twitter.com/chimeracoder/status/1076903993278902272

3.

In math/physics, "_____ is left as an exercise for the reader"

— Khaz (@KhazWolf) December 24, 2018

4.

In Law: "It depends." https://t.co/sMe9TkmTJQ

— Waqar Vick Rehman (@WaqarVick) December 24, 2018

5.

https://twitter.com/AstronautAbby/status/1078137124489187329

6.

https://twitter.com/Astropartigirl/status/1076978203200110592

7.

In software development it's "It works on my machine" 😉 https://t.co/ejkdxPP9Xp

— Rich Turner (@richturn_ms) December 23, 2018

8.

In psychology, it is "we thank the reviewer for raising this important question, but it is beyond the scope of the present paper" 😉 https://t.co/AW0SnlybL2

— Eiko Fried (@EikoFried) December 23, 2018

9.

In transcription, [inaudible].

— jenphalian (@jenphalian) December 23, 2018