non-denial denial

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non-denial denial (plural non-denial denials)

1. (idiomatic) A statement which appears to deny that something is true, but which, when examined carefully, can be seen to have used diversion, bluster, or ambiguity to avoid making a clear, direct denial.
   • 1997 July 1, Taran Provost, “Gates: I Wasn't Even on the Block”, in Time:

     In a classic non-denial denial, Microsoft said that such a takeover might endanger its $200 million MSNBC network partnership.

   • 2000 January 13, Julia Hartley-Brewer, “Diary”, in The Guardian, UK, retrieved 11 June 2013:

     "If you print that, I'll sue you." A non-denial denial if ever there was one.

   • 2006 October 1, David E. Sanger, “The Basics; Did I Say That? No, Not Really, Maybe, Sort Of”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 June 2013:

     In Washington, there is no higher art form than the non-denial denial, in which politicians try to rebut a storyline without quite denying the specifics.

   • 2011 January 19, Vit Wagner, “Anonymous Obama novel stirs Washington”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 11 June 2013:

     [H]e has issued a firm non-denial denial. “I didn’t write it,” he told The New York Times. “But if I had written it, I would be saying I didn’t write it.”

• equivocation
• nondenial

• non-denial denial at OneLook Dictionary Search