Essentially: you advance a claim that you hope will be interpreted by the audience in a "wide" way (avoid = eliminate) even though this could be difficult to defend. On the rare occasions some would call you on it, the claim is such it allows you to retreat to an interpretation that is more easily defensible ("with the word 'avoid' I only meant it reduces the risk, not eliminates").

"Motte" redirects here. For other uses, see Motte (disambiguation). For the fallacy, see Motte-and-bailey fallacy.