

As it turns out is quite innocuous - unignorant
http://blog.ethanjfast.com/2010/03/as-it-turns-out-is-quite-innocuous/

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jeromec
I totally agree. I was trying to discern whether or not the author of the
original post on jsomers.net was on to something, but it's more a case (it
turns out) of a solution looking for a problem. Using the phrase "it turns
out" isn't an indicator an author is intentionally trying to "slip one past"
the reader in a dishonest way. As with anything a reader has ultimate
responsibility of evaluating the credibility of the author and claim - no
matter how it's phrased. Let's look at the first PG example: _"...I thought
one day I’d do some angel investing. Seven years later I still hadn’t started.
I put it off because it seemed mysterious and complicated. It turns out to be
easier than I expected, and also more interesting."_ Here the claim is that
angel investing, rather than being mysterious and complicated, is easier than
the author expected. Well, in this case the author can certainly qualify as a
credible expert on the subject, so we can recognize his ability to make that
claim no matter what the phrasing. For this particular example, it's even
harder to challenge the author's assertion because the claim is relative to
_his_ beliefs.

As a side note, I wonder where the colloquialism "it turns out" stems from. My
first guess was of the turns of laundry emptying out the pockets of clothing,
but I think that's too modern a possibility. I think something more likely
might be taking the turns of roads and ending up at a particular destination.

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Tichy
Who cares???

A superficial look suggests to me that in most cases, the "it turns out" could
as well just have been left out (it turns out the "it turns out" could have
been left out) without changing the meaning of the sentences. So it is more
like a filler, like, really, (some English major please step in, I am not even
a native speaker).

There must be software by now that warns you of "sloppy writing"? If not,
might be worth looking into?

I have noticed that I tend to write "though" and "although" all the time, but
have not yet found a remedy. I hope this doesn't invalidate all the comments I
ever mad.

Didn't PG make his articles editable some while ago? So someone could just
edit out those "it turns out" and we can bury the subject.

~~~
unignorant
< A superficial look suggests to me that in most cases, the "it turns out"
could as well just have been left out

That's pretty much the point I was making. Most of the instances could be
replaced by "is" or whatnot, without loss of meaning...

~~~
Tichy
My bad, turns out I didn't read your article carefully enough. I just assumed
you were confirming the point of the original article.

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maurycy
It turns out it turns out turned out into something else.

