credibility gap

credibility gap
   the extent to which you are thought to be lying
   Or, which is more honourable, reluctant to come to terms with unpalatable truth. The phrase comes from US strategic analysis in the 1950s and was used in this sense by Gerald Ford in 1966 when questioning President Johnson's statements about the extent of American involvement in Vietnam:
    We do not recognise them helmeted, in a bomber aiming cans of napalm at a thatched village. We have a credibility gap. (M. McCarthy, 1967, referring to American pilots in Vietnam)
   A serious credibility gap means that everyone thinks that you are a liar.

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • credibility gap — noun Date: 1966 1. a. lack of trust < a credibility gap between generations > b. lack of believability < a credibility gap created by contradictory official statements Samuel Ellenport > 2. discrepancy …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • credibility gap — N SING A credibility gap is the difference between what a person says or promises and what they actually think or do. British economic policy has had a credibility gap since the ERM suspension …   English dictionary

  • credibility gap —    The extent of disbelief, of the difference between what you are asked to believe and what you are able to believe, is call a credibility gap.     The growing credibility gap may lead to a serious loss of votes in the next elections …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • credibility gap — /ˌkredɪ bɪlɪti gæp/ noun a discrepancy between claims for a product made by the manufacturer and acceptance of these claims by the target audience ● The credibility gap that we face is partly due to our product’s bad performance record. ⇒ source… …   Marketing dictionary in english

  • credibility gap — {n.}, {hackneyed phrase}, {politics} An apparent discrepancy between what the government says and what one can observe for oneself. * /There was a tremendous credibility gap in the USA during the Watergate years./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • credibility gap — {n.}, {hackneyed phrase}, {politics} An apparent discrepancy between what the government says and what one can observe for oneself. * /There was a tremendous credibility gap in the USA during the Watergate years./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • credibility gap — 1. a lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government, large corporations, politicians, etc.: a credibility gap between the public and the power company. 2. a perceived discrepancy between… …   Universalium

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