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"Imply" vs "Infer"
4

"Imply" vs "Infer"

"Imply" vs "Infer"

(OP)
These two words have to be the two most misused words in the English language.  sadeyes

Any other candidates?

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

"Preventive" is widely misused by insertion of syllables by pretentious illiterates.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Where do you draw the line, "preventative" or "preventatative"?

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

You're kidding, right?  There is _no_ "at" in the word.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

It's largely a matter of taste whether you use "preventive" or "preventative". "Preventative" is a widely used variant and is listed in all English dictionaries.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

The variant with 'at' comes up in the Free Online Dictionary.

As Web- speak, it belongs there.

Call it Web-onics.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

I thik you'll find it's a pommy thing.

How about 'affect' and 'effect'?

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Back in the dinosaur era, I had a teacher write on the board,

I will except your assignments until 3pm

I asked her if that meant that I could go see her before 3pm, and I wouldn't have to do mine.  She then got very confused.  I had to explain the difference between accept and except.

Pitiful.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

I have had "Accept" and "Except"(and a few others) used incorrectly in legal documents. Unfortunately when I tried to plead for the correction it was not forthcoming.
He who has the power to enforce determines the correct usage, regardless of what the dictonary says.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Preventive sounds all wrong to me, I'm going to stick with the extra 'at'.
A very common (and very irritating) one is the use of your instead of you're.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

It's not an extra 'at', it's an extra 'ta'.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Orientated vs Oriented

I think they are both equally used, although Orientated is a bit of a mouthful - hard to squeeze in the extra syllable.  It's a bit like hearing Americans try to pronunce Worcestershire (as in the sauce).

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

I thought the meanings of imply (hint) and infer (deduce) were pretty distinct.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"


In my opinion:

Imply is a consequence of

Infer is a deduction of

luis marques

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Less and fewer.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

assume and presume

although the differences are fairly subtle in some contexts.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

there, their, they're

its, it's

have, of

Mike, reventative is more correct to my ear, having grown up in the UK.  Just call me a pretentious illiterate.

Americann English is significantly different to 'Queens' English.  I'd hesitate to say either is wrong, just different (that's not entirely true, if I still lived in the UK I'd say the Yanks were wrong but when in Rome...)

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

regardless

irregardless

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

flammable - inflammable

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

"Mike, reventative is more correct to my ear, having grown up in the UK.  Just call me a pretentious illiterate.
"

I think I proved the point about me being illiterate.  Try Preventative not reventative

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Obviously a whole lot of people who don't remember Archie Bunker...one episode of All In The Family had Meathead explaining the difference between 'imply' and 'infer' to Archie...what did he say, 'The speaker implies, the listener infers'....something like that.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

I heard "comprise" used correctly on the radio today for the first time in I can't remember how long.  (Hint:  it's not a fancy synonym for "compose".)

Also, "utilize" has a much more specific meaning than "use", though most people seem to think that it's simply a fancy multi-syllable variant of the same word.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

RACECAR spelled backwards is RACECAR....I like that!

There are three kinds of people in this world; those who can count and those who can't.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

In Tom Sharpe's book Wilt, there was a nice exchange between Wilt (teacher and murder suspect) and his nemesis, the police inspector, which went something like -

Inspector: "Are you implying I'm an idiot?"
Wilt: "No I'm inferring you're an idiot. You're implying it."

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

...just one more peeve.

I realize the use of "verbal" to mean "oral" goes back centuries, but I don't like it.  "Verbal" means "with words" and thus does should not exclude "written".

But English Is As She Is Spoke, and I lose on this one.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"


I wonder whether insulation and isolation, frequently misapplied, belong to this discussion.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

irregardless of you're politics, George W Bush frequently constructs and moderates discussions like this,,,,, unknowingly.

bigears

I don't know if he's an engineer though.  



...or did I mean unwittingly.....

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

How about unwonted and unwanted!

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Mixing up there, their and they're  is getting very common on bulletin boards, and also where and were.

Greg mentioned affect and effect.
Effect gives rise to effective, efficient, efficacious, and effectual. I think most people just use effective and efficient, apart from when singing Lilly the Pink.


RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

your and you're (both ur)

Strange that rose, rows, rhos and roes are seldom misspelt.  I think there are 15 meanings for the same sound.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Quote:

I realize the use of "verbal" to mean "oral" goes back centuries, but I don't like it.  "Verbal" means "with words" and thus does should not exclude "written".

But English Is As She Is Spoke, and I lose on this one.

A - "We will give them verbal authorization to proceed today and followup with written authorization on Monday."

or

B - "We will give them oral authorization to proceed today and followup with written authorization on Monday."

You prefer B?
 

=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

I can't say that I prefer B, because no one else uses it that way and thus I would be a bad communicator to use it (plus in these Beavis & Butthead days you can't say "oral" without someone sniggering), but I wish I could use it.  To me, "verbal" means using words (as opposed to gestures).

What bothers me even more is that it's starting to mean simply "unofficial", as in "I gave them verbal authorization by email".  Oy.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

A message can be given verbally or orally; either way it will be received aurally.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Oral/aural is a really unfortunate set of homonyms, considering that they tend to occur in similar contexts.  I usually point to my ear when saying "aural".  (I guess I don't have many occasions to use the word over the phone.)

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

Anyone with a black labrador knows what aural sex means.

RE: "Imply" vs "Infer"

HCBFlash,
I think it's a safe bet that G.W Bush thinks free body diagrams are something that underage children should not be exposed to. His pronunciation of nuclear is a dead giveaway.


HCBFlash (Electrical) 21 Oct 07 20:12  
irregardless of you're politics, George W Bush frequently constructs and moderates discussions like this,,,,, unknowingly.

I don't know if he's an engineer though.  

...or did I mean unwittingly.....

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