Just what do you mean by that?

Misleading, misconstrued, untruthful. No matter what you call it, it wasn’t right. Former University of Washington head football coach Steve Sarkisian said, in his attempt to apologize for misleading comments about being interviewed for the head coaching position at USC, “Hindsight’s 20-20. I probably should have said it was an interview. Semantics are semantics. If I could do it all over again, I probably would have just said exactly what the conversation was that Pat (USC Athletic Director Hadon) and I had.”

First of all, if we’re being picky…and he was…it’s not “Semantics are semantics”. It’s “Semantics is semantics”. Semantics is about the meaning of words and, frankly it’s a dangerous business.  Ask Bill Clinton, OJ Simpson’s lawyer, Lance Armstrong, Britney Spears, Seattle's last mayor and any of a myriad other high profile individuals who have tried to worm their way out of misstatements or what some of us call lies.

I’ve spent my professional life in a world overrun with semantics. Saying what you mean seems sometimes to be very difficult for people. I tell my students that their communications should be simple, truthful, matter-of-fact and direct.  Daily communications are not creative exercises.  You want other people to understand very clearly what you’re saying. If you have to ask what someone means then they’re not telling you the whole story.

Sarkisian had an interview and told his players and others that he didn’t.  That’s not semantics.  It’s a lie. And “white” so he wouldn’t upset people or not, his hindsight was indeed 20-20.  He should have said that it was an interview for a new job. I think most adults could deal with that.

Many people have been credited with saying “The truth is overrated.” However, I believe it’s much easier to keep track of the truth than it is to remember what you said instead. I guess that’s enough of this short rant. Now I’ll go back to trying to say what my client doesn’t want to say without saying it.  My head hurts.