Hacker News Reader

> actually say "the thing" instead of using a new random phrase

Apparently the phrase is very old, pre-dating the internet. It came out of the CIA.

In this context hangout is a clipped form of "letting it all hang out"

So it's saying you're putting on the appearance of letting it all hang out, but the information revealed is limited.

I think in this case, the existence of pedigree isn't a strong enough argument to keep around an uncommon, and uncommonly unintuitive, phrase.

"Gaslight confession" or "gaslight apology" are much clearer. By directly addressing the intent to deceive, they are both accurate, and can help discourage the practice.

("Gaslight" is also unintuitive upon first encounter, but has a widely established meaning at this point.)

I suppose it could be that if one’s intent is to mislead, then obfuscating the name of a technique specifically meant for that purpose is a feature, not a bug.

I think it's based on the phrase hung out to dry. This is a limited hangout where you may still be damp.