BLANKET JUDGEMENT

Today in Vocabulary Booster we have something a bit different.
It’s a term you can easily use in a sentence, but it’s also something we usually want to avoid in speaking, especially when someone expects us to be concrete rather than vague.
A blanket judgment is a broad, sweeping evaluation that treats all people, things, or situations in a group as if they were the same.
It often sounds like:

• Everyone is like this;
  
• Nothing from that group is good;
  
• Polish people do that;
  
• Germans are known for that.
  

These are all blanket judgments.


Now, how do we actually use this phrase in language?

We can make a blanket judgment about something. We can also talk about a blanket statement or a blanket assumption; they are close cousins and work in very similar ways. Very often, we use it with the phrase avoid blanket judgments.
Examples:

• It’s risky to make a blanket judgment about someone based on one meeting;
  
• That’s a blanket statement and it ignores important differences;
  
• We shouldn’t work on blanket assumptions when making decisions;
  
• Good communicators avoid blanket judgments, especially in feedback.
  
  
  
  

One important note.

When we use the phrase blanket judgment, we are usually being critical. 
As for how common it is,

this phrase is quite natural in professional, academic, and reflective language. You’ll hear it in feedback, analysis, coaching, HR, and media, but much less in everyday chit-chat. When you use this phrase, people tend to register it as thoughtful and slightly formal.