Silence is acceptence

[William James]

when a question is asked and the questionaire is ignored and silence is accepted as an answer, what is that act called? Hypothetical situation, Jack (fictious person) accuses john(fictious person) of being a thief, John does not respond therefore is John a thief and does the addage of "silence is acceptence" apply? Does this question or Johns failure to reply fall under a category is this a type of sentence or does this lack of answer be defined?

[tenderboy]

wow u can call that. absolutely nothing comes to my mind but for instance u could say what a stunned silence

i dont know if my remark was usefull but im readily gonna look foward to somebody else's feedback.

take care

[susiedqq]

Can you be more specific?

An "abstention" or to "abstain" means to not answer, however, that is in a voting or legal setting.

OR

Are you saying that someone did not answer your question, and by their silence, you think that they agree?

[Anglika]

I suppose it could be regarded as "tacit agreement".