educated guess
an estimate based on a some data
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"It's more than an EDUCATED GUESS, but less than a scientific figure. What we can say is that it was one of the largest crowds in living memory," said a police spokesman.
(The Guardian)
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Because the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency have never seen that material or any nuclear weapons, it was an EDUCATED GUESS, and one that has been the subject of considerable behind-the-scenes debate.
(New York Times)
(The Guardian)
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Because the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency have never seen that material or any nuclear weapons, it was an EDUCATED GUESS, and one that has been the subject of considerable behind-the-scenes debate.
(New York Times)
Did you
know?
educated guess
noun phrase
- a guess which is made using judgment and a particular level of knowledge and is therefore more likely to be correct
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Being educated means having some degree of knowledge, whether through a formal education, such as at a college or university, or through self-learning. Therefore, an educated guess implies that a statement or opinion is based on enough information to justify making a reasonably accurate estimate.
The question is, what constitutes "reasonably accurate?" As the saying goes, that's anyone's guess.
Guessing has varying degrees of accuracy that can be explained with the help of some popular acronyms:
WAG - Wild Arsed Guess (randomly pulling a number out of hat)
EWAG - Educated Wild Arsed Guess (peeping into the hat while no-one is looking and pulling out the correct number to the amazement of colleagues and friends)
SWAG - Scientific Wild Arsed Guess (counting how many numbers are in the hat, calculating the odds of pulling out each number and then presenting your theorem at an international mathematics conference)
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"I'll take an educated guess and say that our sales figures for the next quarter will increase 5%."
noun phrase
- a guess which is made using judgment and a particular level of knowledge and is therefore more likely to be correct
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Being educated means having some degree of knowledge, whether through a formal education, such as at a college or university, or through self-learning. Therefore, an educated guess implies that a statement or opinion is based on enough information to justify making a reasonably accurate estimate.
The question is, what constitutes "reasonably accurate?" As the saying goes, that's anyone's guess.
Guessing has varying degrees of accuracy that can be explained with the help of some popular acronyms:
WAG - Wild Arsed Guess (randomly pulling a number out of hat)
EWAG - Educated Wild Arsed Guess (peeping into the hat while no-one is looking and pulling out the correct number to the amazement of colleagues and friends)
SWAG - Scientific Wild Arsed Guess (counting how many numbers are in the hat, calculating the odds of pulling out each number and then presenting your theorem at an international mathematics conference)
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"I'll take an educated guess and say that our sales figures for the next quarter will increase 5%."
