muddy the waters
MUD-ee the WAW-terz
ˈmʌdi ðə ˈwɔːtərzListen
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Dictionary meaning
make a situation more confused, unclear, or complicated, especially by introducing misleading information, conflating separate issues, or obscuring what was previously straightforward; the image is of stirring up the sediment at the bottom of a clear stream to make it opaque and impossible to see through; in public discourse on environmental science the phrase is used to describe deliberate strategies of manufacturing doubt and confusion about well-established findings, as documented in the tobacco and fossil fuel industries' responses to health and climate science
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