Open Up Outcomes

I have a question about this:


"Despite the Greek government's assertion that a no vote will not lead to a euro exit, most people agree it would open up more uncertain outcomes, especially if the ECB halts its life-support measures to Greece's banks. "


Dictionaries suggest that only "open up opportunities/possibilities" is correct, and "open up outcomes" might be nonstandard. So, is the example poorly written?

No.

"open up opportunities/possibilities" is not quite the same as "open up outcomes".

No, it isn't.

So, "open up outcomes" is not standard English?

I think the following definition is worth your reference, but I am not a teacher.

'open something↔up | open up
to become or make something possible'── quoted from http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/open-up?q=open+up

learningspirit said:

"open up opportunities/possibilities" is not quite the same as "open up outcomes".

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"Open up outcomes" means "open up the possibility of outcomes."
If there are several possible outcomes, but only one can prevail, then in one sense the other outcomes are not opened up. You could regard this as an imprecise phrase; others would see it as a reasonable, readily-understood ellipsis.

learningspirit said:

"open up opportunities/possibilities" is not quite the same as "open up outcomes".

Click to expand...

Both looks the same to me. I think maybe it just means uncertain things will happen.

Not a teacher.

mawes12 said:

Both looks the same to me.

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I think 'both' takes a plural verb, but I am not a teacher.

(Not a Teacher. BrE first language speaker)

Raymott's explanation works for me.

I think perhaps the point is that the three words, "possibilities", "opportunities" and "outcomes" all have different meanings. In each case you need to take the meaning of the particular word used to modify how the sentence should be interpreted.

learningspirit said:

So, "open up outcomes" is not standard English?

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I never said that. It's fine as written.

Am I the only one who seems to think that this poster's logic usually runs like this?
"I crossed the street" is a correct sentence but a street is not the same as a river. Therefore, "I crossed the river" must be improper usage.

@Raymott

So, "open up outcomes" is a little bit nonstandard compared to "open up possibilities" and "open up opportunities"?

Where is the emoticon that shows a head banging on the desk?

Will a wall do?

I guess we can't post gifs , so I'll have to link to this classic.

learningspirit said:

So, "open up outcomes" is a little bit nonstandard compared to "open up possibilities" and "open up opportunities"?

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Why do you insist that it is non-standard?

Matthew, do you know what an Internet troll is?

Raymott said:

"Open up outcomes" means "open up the possibility of outcomes."

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Similarly, does 'exclude the outcome' mean 'exclude the possibility of the outcome'?

Barb_D said:

Matthew, do you know what an Internet troll is?

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I hope you are not implying that the OP is a troll, but I am not a teacher.

I am most certainly suggesting the OP is.