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SWAG's

SWAG's

(OP)
I have heard several expansions of the expression "SWAG", most having variations on the "S" part, namely

Silly Wild A** Guess
Simple Wild A** Guess

The version I learned was

Scientific Wild A** Guess

which I believe to be superior because it contains some of each of the following:

1.  Seriousness coupled with experience and therefore professionalism;
2.  Uncertainty and therefore candor;
3.  Irony and incongruity and therefore humor: the unemotional and geeky "S" immediately followed by the shocking excess of "WA" has a Pythonesque effect that is simply too scrumptious for description (compare "Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who.");
4.  An overall effect implying that the user of the term possesses sufficient wisdom to be credible.

When people unfamiliar with the term ask me what it means, I usually say "It's a highly technical, engineering term that means a Scientific Wild A** Guess."  Any explanation beyond that is a waste of time.

Which version is generally preferred by the membership, and why?  Can even what we have be improved?

Regards,
William

RE: SWAG's

I've also heard "sophisticated wag".

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

RE: SWAG's

"Scientific" is the understood version in my area.  It is the most preferred version by me.

Regards,

Cory

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RE: SWAG's

There seems to be two different connotations in my office,  both based on the more "routine WAG":

Scientific WIld Ass Guess (SWAG) - which more be more accurate than a WAG,  but still just a guess.....hence this seems an oxymoron.

Swinging Wild Ass Guess (SWAG) - which is less accurate than the WAG.

The latter seems more consistent to me, but when you get down to is,  a GUESS is just a GUESS.


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