There are various words that people often confuse. We all do it, or have done it. In this Coffee Talk, I want to explain the differences between “imply” and “infer.”
Who Says Sitcoms Can’t Be Educational?
Many years ago there was a sitcom that my wife and I watched on a fairly regular basis. In one particular episode, the issue of “imply” versus “infer” was one of the humorous thread lines. I hate to admit it, but it might have been during that comedy sitcom that I got a handle on “imply” and “infer.”
Lacking the humor, sorry, I will attempt to help you beleaguered souls who struggle with these two words: I should point out that most people who use these two words incorrectly are not bedeviled by them at all. The reason that they are not bothered by these two words is because they think they use them correctly, and so they do not know that there is an issue here.
Imply or Infer?
The word “infer” is often confused with the word “imply.” But these two words are not synonymous and should not be used interchangeably.
Imply means "to state indirectly."
Infer means "to draw a conclusion."
Not clear enough? Try this:
Imply means to hint at or suggest.
Infer means to conclude or deduce from what was hinted at or suggested.
Thus . . .
Writers or speakers imply things.
Listeners or readers infer things.
Correct: He implied in his speech that he will raise our taxes.
Correct: I inferred from his speech that he will raise our taxes.
Incorrect: He inferred in his speech that he will raise our taxes.
Incorrect: I implied from his speech that he will raise our taxes.
Remember, writers or speakers imply and listeners or readers infer.
Imply (or Implication):Implication is the activity that a speaker or piece of writing does. When a speaker or a piece of writing implies something, that speaker or piece of writing has conveyed, suggested, or hinted at it without stating it outright:
Example: When the professor said, “All the other professors in this college are pushovers,” he implied (not inferred) that he was a tough professor.
Infer (or Inference): On the other hand, inference is the activity that a reader or listener does. The reader or listener draws a conclusion from what was “hinted at”:
Example: When the professor said, “All of the other professors in this school are pushovers,” the students inferred (not implied) that he was going to be a tough professor.
Here is an example of the confusion of the imply and infer words in a student paper:
"Again it seems that a plurality of persons in one God is strongly inferred by these Old Testament passages."
Remember, the piece of writing (or writer or speaker) does not infer. It (or he/she) implies.
So, this would be correct:
"Again it seems that a plurality of persons in one God is strongly implied by these Old Testament passages."
Or, if you wish to use the word infer, then it could read something like this:
"It seems reasonable from these Old Testament passages that a balanced researcher may properly infer a plurality of persons in one God."
When I corrected the student on this, he wrote:
“To me, this seems appropriate since a deduction [inference] is being made from the scriptural evidence.”
To this I wrote:
“Indeed. But it is YOU, not the Old Testament passages, that have made this deduction. Therefore, YOU are doing the inferring, and the Scriptures may be doing the implying (if that was God's intent--to show plurality of persons in one God) by these passages.”
Sometimes confusion actually grows when a person looks up words like these in some dictionaries. My student wrote:
Hi Dr. Walston,
I am struggling a bit with the "infer" and "imply" assignment that you requested. In looking through several dictionaries here at home, it seems that these words are very similar. Actually in two dictionaries, the word "imply" is used as part of the definition for “infer.” It seems to me however that the word "infer" carries with it a strong sense of deduction, whereas “imply” has more the idea of, "to insinuate or suggest."
My student is beginning to get a handle on these two. In his last sentence, he says:
It seems to me however that the word "infer" carries with it a strong sense of deduction, whereas "imply" may have more the idea of, "to insinuate or suggest."
Bingo!
"Infer" carries with it a strong sense of deduction.
“Imply” has more the idea of "to insinuate or suggest."
Note also that he states:
Actually in two dictionaries, the word "imply" is used as part of the definition for “infer.”
Throw versus Catch
As I was musing on this some more, it dawned on me that it might be more easily illustrated by the use of the words "throw" and "catch."
Now, no one thinks that these two words ("throw" and "catch") are the same. We can easily see that they are not interchangeable, but I can imagine that part of the definition of catch could involved the word "throw" since something has to be thrown before it can be caught.
So, here is how these two words might work with imply and infer:
The boy threw (implied) the ball, and the girl caught (inferred) it.
(Obviously, the word implied is not synonymous with throw, and inferred is not synonymous with caught, but you get the point, and you can see the “direction” that these words move in.)
Another example:
The guest speaker implied that mega-churches are bad. He didn't come right out and make an open statement in that regard. However, the listeners were able to infer (catch or deduce) from the speaker's comments that he thinks that mega-churches are bad.
You Can Do Both
Note well that you can do both things: you can imply and you can infer.
Are you the speaker (or writer)? In that function (presenting the information) you can imply.
Are you the listener (or reader)? In that function (receiving the information) you can infer.
Finally
I think that all educated people know the proper distinction between infer and imply.
Quiz: In my last sentence above, did I imply something? Or, did you infer something from my words? Or, both?
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A Reader Responds:
Dr. Walston,
I enjoyed your coffeetalk on infer vs. imply. I can't tell you how many time's I've had to say, or write, "You have inferred what I did not imply."
And that raises a distinction I failed to note in your article, though I'm sure a careful reader might have inferred it. To wit: One may infer what was never implied by the speaker or writer. (You touched on this in your correction of the student's thesis about what the Bible might imply about the Trinity.) Inferences can, therefore, be valid or invalid, founded or unfounded. Implications, however, are always known to the speaker or writer.
One problem with hermeneutics newbies is that students are always finding things that writers implied, which may or may not be the case. Such students really need to learn to identify when they are making inferences and to identify whether these inferences are founded or unfounded. Our principle task in interpretation is always to determine what the original author actually meant and intended to communicate. Inferences we draw from the text may actually distract us from this goal.
It's a worthy goal to find intended implications, but I had a very difficult time in Bible College letting go of the notion that what I perceived as intentional implications were merely inferences on my part. It is not legitimate to raise an inference to the level of implication unless we can state with convincing evidence that the author intended to make this implication.
Anyhow, good article, and good food for thought. Perhaps I should blog on that some day. :)
Rich
BlogRodent
Send comments about this, or any, Coffee Talk to Rick Walston at: CES @ ColumbiaSeminary.edu
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