Nathan Bierma had some questions in his On Language column that I found intriguing. Shu and I had different answers to them. What would you say?

Question:
The recipe is "deceptively simple." What does this mean?

Choices:
It is truly simple, but appears difficult
It is truly difficult but appears simple
Impossible to determine

Question:
The pool is "deceptively shallow." What does that mean?

Choices:
The pool is shallower than it appears
The pool is deep
Impossible to determine

 

The answers I need aren't there so I'll post them here.

1. The recipe is simple but produces a result that looks as if it were complicated.

2. The pool is shallow but dangerous.

Both phrases are ambigious and frequently misused. It's a bit like the "bi-annual" expression - does that mean twive a year or every two years?

I'd avoid the expressions myself, unless the context made them 100% clear.

Bob, you and I are on the same page with both those definitions. I think both your definitions are accurately portrayed with the first selection in each question.

I hated to put the third selection because I knew many would choose that one. I think most of us have an idea what they both mean, though all of us realize they aren't clear.