Hello, Dr. Grinder. 1.  You wrote, ".. am I being obscure?" That might mean one or more of the following: - "Am I communicating something having the property of obscureness?" - "Am I obscurely communicating?" - "Is what I wrote obscure to you?" 2.  You wrote, "There are formal presentations that can be perfectly rigorous but by appealing to little known or little used distinctions, have the quality of being obscure." Merriam - Webster's Online Dictionary defines the adjective termed "obscure" as having the following alternative meanings, - "1 a : DARK, DIM b : shrouded in or hidden by darkness c : not clearly seen or easily distinguished : FAINT" - "2 : not readily understood or clearly expressed; also : MYSTERIOUS" - "3 : relatively unknown: as a : REMOTE, SECLUDED b : not prominent or famous " - "4 : constituting the unstressed vowel \&\ or having unstressed \&\ as its value" You might be referring to at least one of the following kinds of obscure formal presentation: - a formal presentation that is obscure because the presenter is little known - a formal presentation that is obscure because the presentation is not readily understood - a formal presentation that is obscure because the presentation is not clearly expressed It's possible for one or more of the following to be true: - a rigorous presentation was made by a little known presenter - a rigorous presentation was unclear - a rigorous presentation was not readily understood 3.  You wrote, "I observe that it is also perfectly possible to be completely metaphoric without being obscure." and you wrote, "If in this exchange I write, that ..." Merriam - Webster's Online Dictionary defines the noun termed "metaphor" as having the following alternative meanings, - 1 : a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money); broadly : figurative language -- compare SIMILE - 2 : an object, activity, or idea treated as a metaphor : SYMBOL If you intended to communicate written statements that might be metaphoric and not obscure, then I should do all of the following: - look for figurative language(speech) in what you wrote - interpret what you wrote to find alternative meanings of what you wrote - notice if the meaning of what you wrote treats concepts of objects, concepts of activities, or concepts of ideas as metaphors 4.  You wrote, "... while in the Brasilian rain forest of the Amazon, I saw butterflies whose coloration and form of distribution of the colors was so spectacular that I suspect its overwhelming visual presentation actually operates as a defense, you may easily understand. If I simply say There are species of butterfly that so dazzle us with riotious flash of form and color so as to tranfixed while something moves deep within us. am I being obscure?" Some person might know that when you wrote, "There are species of butterfly that so dazzle us with riotious flash of form and color so as to tranfixed while something moves deep within us." you meant to write what the following means, "while in the Brasilian rain forest of the Amazon, I saw butterflies whose coloration and form of distribution of the colors was so spectacular that I suspect its overwhelming visual presentation actually operates as a defense" That person might decide that your writing was obscure because the person thinks that your writing did not clearly communicate the meaning that, "while in the Brasilian rain forest of the Amazon, I saw butterflies whose coloration and form of distribution of the colors was so spectacular that I suspect its overwhelming visual presentation actually operates as a defense" Another person might read, "There are species of butterfly that so dazzle us with riotious flash of form and color so as to tranfixed while something moves deep within us." and decide that the writing was metaphoric, not obscure.  That reader might believe that you intended to communicate with figurative language, rather than believe that you intended to communicate that, "while in the Brasilian rain forest of the Amazon, I saw butterflies whose coloration and form of distribution of the colors was so spectacular that I suspect its overwhelming visual presentation actually operates as a defense". But, another person, not knowing what you intended to mean by your writing, could do one or more of the following: - decide that your writing had the property of obscureness  - decide that your intended meaning was not readily understood by him or her - decide that your intended meaning was not clearly communicated by you To decide that the writing was obscure would be a logical fallacy, because the writing was not poorly understandable or unclearly writing, but rather was a product created during an unsuccessful written communication. To decide whether the post that this post replies to was obscure, I determined that: - you are a well-known author and presenter - I understand your presentation, because I can interpret it in multiple ways - your presentation is clear* - I don't know what you intended to accomplish by what you wrote - what you wrote used figurative language I decided that the post that this post replies to was not obscure. 5.  You wrote, "There are species of butterfly that so dazzle us with riotious flash of form and color so as to tranfixed while something moves deep within us. am I being obscure?" No.  You are being metaphorical.  What you wrote is also relevant as an example of metaphorical writing that might be considered obscure by some people.  -nj * When you wrote, "There are species of butterfly that so dazzle us with riotious flash of form and color so as to tranfixed while something moves deep within us." I interpreted what you wrote to mean, "There are species of butterfly that dazzle us with riotous flash of form and color so as to transfix us while something moves deep within us."