Spelling Out the Alternative

A man on a television documentary said the following line.

It then became a hands-off operation as opposed to a hands-on operation.

Why bother spelling the alternative out? Would anybody really have thought of something else such the following?

It then became a hands-off operation as opposed to a turkey sandwich.

If the alternative is obvious (like pretty much every binary scenario), then there is no need to spell it out.

Edible vs. Eatable

Some people wonder what the difference is between the words edible and eatable (a lot of people do not even think of eatable as a real word). The difference is between possibility and desirability. For example:

Edible is the difference between a cookie and a chair.
Eatable is the difference between a cookie and a Brussels-sprout.