Infer, Imply, Affect, Effect - Those Terms.

[yellowstone123]

Thanks Physics Guy for taking the time to explain it. I really appreciate it.

[Imwashingmypirate]

Implying is saying something without quite saying it. Inferring is hearing something that wasn't quite said.

It's true that "affect" is usually a verb, and "effect" is usually a noun. If you affect something, then you have an effect on it.

Unfortunately there are some more seldom-used words with somewhat different meanings that happen to be spelled the same.

There is a noun "affect" which means something like "display of emotions". The noun "affect" is pronounced differently from the verb "affect", with the emphasis on the first syllable instead of the second. It's related to the more common noun "affection". A clinical way of saying that someone seems to under-react to things, emotionally, is to say that they have "flattened affect".

There is also a verb "affect" that is not about having effects on things, but is instead related to the noun "affect". It's still pronounced the same as the more common verb "affect", emphasizing the second syllable. This "affect" verb is about faking an emotion or attitude. You can affect to be offended, meaning that you act offended even though you're not really. If somebody's attitude or manner comes across as fake you can say that they are "affected". If someone is affecting a mood or characteristic, then this fake characteristic of theirs is an affectation. In contrast, if someone's attitude is sincere then it is unaffected. This kind of "unaffected" is a different word from the "unaffected" that means something had no effect on you.

And there is a rarely used verb "effect" which is kind of related to the usual "effect" noun, but in a stronger sense. If you affect something, then your effect on it might be large or it might be small, but if you effect something, then you make that thing happen. You can effect a change, or effect the end of some process.

"I realize that you were only affecting affection, and discovering your affectation has affected me deeply. The effect it has had on me is that I am hereby effecting an end to our relationship. Your current seemingly unaffected apology leaves my decision unaffected."

Haha... Just highlighted my confusion.

So your understanding of implying and inferring is kind of like the two people in the conversation, one implies something and the other infers the meaning what what was implied?

Didn't process the affect effect.

[Res Ipsa]

Implying is saying something without quite saying it. Inferring is hearing something that wasn't quite said.

I think that’s the best explanation of the difference I’ve ever read.

[Physics Guy]

So your understanding of implying and inferring is kind of like the two people in the conversation, one implies something and the other infers the meaning what what was implied?

Yes, exactly. Implying is suggesting something, and inferring is picking up a suggestion. In this sense "imply" and "infer" are sort of the reverse of each other.

The hint you pick up, when you infer, doesn't have to have been a hint made by another person. You can infer something just from observations about the world. I can notice that it's getting warmer and infer that summer is coming. I'm inferring something that the growing warmth is implying.

One grey area is how logically solid inferring and implying are supposed to be. Sometimes both terms are used only about rigorous logical relationships. In that kind of context someone might insist that I cannot infer the approach of summer from a few days of warm weather because you can sometimes have warm days in autumn, therefore warm days do not imply summer. People do also say "infer" and "imply" about mere guesses and hints, though. I don't think that's wrong, just a common colloquial exaggeration, like the way people call things "awesome" when they don't literally inspire awe.

Inference and implication shouldn't be about things that are totally obvious, though. The expectation with both words is that at least a couple of dots have to be connected; if something is spelled out explicitly, then using "infer" or "imply" sounds overblown or sarcastic.

And on the other hand there should at least be some dots there to be connected. If someone just jumps to a wild conclusion, that's not really inferring, even if they think it is.

[Imwashingmypirate]

So your understanding of implying and inferring is kind of like the two people in the conversation, one implies something and the other infers the meaning what what was implied?

Yes, exactly. Implying is suggesting something, and inferring is picking up a suggestion. In this sense "imply" and "infer" are sort of the reverse of each other.

The hint you pick up, when you infer, doesn't have to have been a hint made by another person. You can infer something just from observations about the world. I can notice that it's getting warmer and infer that summer is coming. I'm inferring something that the growing warmth is implying.

One grey area is how logically solid inferring and implying are supposed to be. Sometimes both terms are used only about rigorous logical relationships. In that kind of context someone might insist that I cannot infer the approach of summer from a few days of warm weather because you can sometimes have warm days in autumn, therefore warm days do not imply summer. People do also say "infer" and "imply" about mere guesses and hints, though. I don't think that's wrong, just a common colloquial exaggeration, like the way people call things "awesome" when they don't literally inspire awe.

Inference and implication shouldn't be about things that are totally obvious, though. The expectation with both words is that at least a couple of dots have to be connected; if something is spelled out explicitly, then using "infer" or "imply" sounds overblown or sarcastic.

And on the other hand there should at least be some dots there to be connected. If someone just jumps to a wild conclusion, that's not really inferring, even if they think it is.

This makes sense. Thank you.

[Dr. Shades]

Imply is something you do to someone else. Infer is something you do to yourself inside your head.

[Imwashingmypirate]

Imply is something you do to someone else. Infer is something you do to yourself inside your head.

Simple answer. <3