What does “to put it charitably” mean?

Question

There was the following sentence in the article titled “Why Rick Perry may be out of luck” appearing in the New Yorker (August 19):

"Last Friday, the Texas Governor was indicted on two counts: abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant. What those charges mean, though, is hard to say. The indictment itself is just two pages and, to put it charitably, unelaborated." http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/rick-perry-may-luck

I’m unfamiliar with the phrase, “to put it charitably.”

CED defines “charitably” as;

Verb. in a kind way, not judging other people in a severe way: example. She described him, rather charitably, as quiet whereas I would have said he was boring.

But the above definition doesn’t look sit well to me with the sentence, “two-page indictment, to put it charitably is unelaborated,” because “unelaborated” indictment is felt to be rather a bitter criticism.

Google Ngram shows popularity of “to put it mildly” (0.0000183846% in 2007) in comparison with marginal currency of “to put it charitably (0.0000005512% in 2007).

What does “to put it charitably” here mean? Is it same with “to put it mildly" or "to say the least”? If it is, I wonder why the writer preferred to use a phrase not so popular.

Answer 1

To put something charitably means to express a negative feature in the most favorable way. However, it's usually used sarcastically, when describing something you think is very wrong. By specifically pointing out that you're being charitable, the reader understands that you're avoiding the obvious negatives.

In the example you gave, the writer is implying that the indictment should be more detailed. But rather than say this right out, he uses a mild way to say that it's incomplete.

Answer 2

"To put something charitably" means to look at something is the most forgiving manner to the person in question.

For example if someone left a store without paying for something and it is not clear they meant to steal it (eg perhaps they were trying on sunglasses and left them on their head as they walked out), then you could charitably say "they forgot to pay". Less charitably you could say they stole it.

It is used when there is uncertainty or discrepancy. If I ask you "what is the capital of Japan?" and you say "Beijing", I could put it charitably "you mispoke, misheard, or forgot". The inverse, less charitably, would be "you know nothing about geography".

Think of charitably as "giving someone the benefit of doubt".

In the case of the article the charitable "unelaborated" is the nicest interpretation of the allegations. An uncharitable one would be "baseless" or "unfounded".

However, often when one is explicitly saying that they are putting something charitably they are implying that what they want to say is the less charitable interpretation. This can be used for avoiding the legal implications of actually saying the less charitable thing such as libel or slander.

See: Wikipedia: "Principle of Charity"

Answer 3

In actual answer to your questions,

Is it same [as] “to put it mildly" or "to say the least”?

Yes, it is absolutely identical.

I wonder why the writer preferred to use a phrase not so popular.

"to put it charitably" is as perfectly widely known as “to put it mildly" or "to say the least”

Note that it has a slightly more sarcastic, aggressive, witty feel.

Answer 4

The usual set phrase is ", to put it mildly". It is used to stress the fact that the criticism expressed is not as strong as it should be, that it was an understatement.

From this basic, standard cliché, you can make any sort of personal variation. In this case 'charitably' is more strong, sarcastic than the original. It means you have pity of the author, and that the text is much worse than 'unelaborated'