Sometimes a bit of detective work is required in conversation when two people use facial expressions, tones of voice, gestures or other body language to suggest something they're not saying out loud. Two wordsimply and inferare sometimes confused with each other, but they are both ways people exchange information beneath the surfacesometimes accidentally.
Take this scenario of a first date between my friends Josh and Sarah, for instance. Sarah started to tell Josh a story, but right in the middle of it, Josh let out an audible yawn.
In this case, Josh implied that he's bored or tired by yawning. Sarah inferred from his yawning that he's not having a good time on the date.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, imply means to "express indirectly." Infer means to "derive as a conclusion from facts or premises"in other words, to deduce, conclude or gather. For example:
I didn't mean to imply that I was bored with your conversation.
Fortunately for Sarah, Josh wasn't bored at alljust tired from being nervous to go on the date.
I had inferred that you were bored when you yawned.
Source: Merriam-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
Music from this Episode: "Disco Inferno" by The Trampps;
"Black Coffee in Bed" by Squeeze.