Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

“Arguably” ? (that is, more or less =) ‘what can be argued for, with near certainty', as in, “Citizen Kane is arguably the greatest film ever.” This can (and has) been argued for by many people. But notice the argument element here. There is always the possibility of argument against. As by those who think that “Gone with the Wind” was the greatest film ever. But then define “greatest.” I use the asymptotic symbol [?] because, “arguably” can also mean “moot”. This sense is normally found with its adjectival form, “arguable” and doesn't seem to be all that common nowadays.
But, however “arguably” is used, it should never, ever be used with factual data which is indisputable, that is, cannot be argued for or against by anyone, as in, “Jupiter is *arguably the largest planet in our solar system,” since it need not (and cannot) be argued.
There are other ways of expressing “arguably.” But many of these border on weasel words; e.g., “Almost everyone likes X,”, “When people hear X, they think of the best,” “Brand X wins, hands down,” “There is nothing {superlative} than X (or a nice, {adjective} X),” etc. Another popular way of saying “arguably” is “quite possibly”, as in, “X is quite possibly the greatest rapper of all time.” The longwinded version of “arguably” is “It can be argued (with near certainty) that…”
It does tire on the ears, the word “arguably”, as do all of its journalese kith and kin. When in doubt, say what you mean. “I like X more than Y” is perfectly fine (and less sneaky-sounding).