ANSWERS: 4
  • Depends on the setting. If you're talking about a police interrogation, they might have some validity - people generally aren't trained observers. If you're talking about a Congressional investigation, the terms are similar enough to have the same meaning depending on what the question is, specifically. However, both phrases are used to avoid answering incriminating questions. In this case, it's not a matter of being a "trained observer" - if they use the phrases to avoid giving an answer, they're involved enough to have explicit knowledge of the facts.
  • No, definitely not...but both are similar in that they convey that the speaker lacks knowledge of the matter in question. The first only claims lack of knowledge. The second GIVES REASON for the lack of knowledge.
  • very different
  • They are not the same thing. If you do not know something it means you don’t have a clue about it. If you do not notice something it means you are not seeing something. So definitely a difference between not having a clue and of not seeing something.

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