[Vocabulary] "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

In one of the threads, some native speaker of English, While commenting on a threadstarter's post, said sentences with "my inference is" and "I infer that". (I am afraid "some" is offensive here. No offense intended indeed.)

I am sure that almost all of us have inferences about the posts and example sentences in them. Despite this, I had never heard any of the native speakers here say "inference" or "infer". My question is how do you talk about your inference when you do not use "inference" and "infer" themselves. I am looking for some synonyms and substitutes. I myself would say:"What I understood from your sentences is that...", but I am looking for some other sentences and phrases.

Thank you very much in advance!

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Khosro said:

In one of the threads, some native speaker of English, While commenting on a threadstarter's post, said sentences with "my inference is" and "I infer that". (I am afraid "some" is offensive here. No offense intended indeed.)

I am sure that almost all of us have inferences about the posts and example sentences in them. Despite this, I had never heard any of the native speakers here say "inference" or "infer". My question is how do you talk about your inference when you do not use "inference" and "infer" themselves. I am looking for some synonyms and substitutes. I myself would say:"What I understood from your sentences is that...", but I am looking for some other sentences and phrases.

Thank you very much in advance!

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Well I have no objection to it, and wouldn't be surprised if I had used it. I think I might prefer something less dry, as in your 'What I understand...'.

On the basis of that verb, but maintaining the grammatical function of inference, you could also say 'My understanding is....'.

You could also demonstrate your appreciation of the difference between 'implication' and 'inference' (and earn several Brownie points in so doing;-)) by saying 'The implication of what you say is that...'.

b

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

BobK said:

Well I have no objection to it, and wouldn't be surprised if I had used it. I think I might prefer something less dry, as in your 'What I understand...'.

On the basis of that verb, but maintaining the grammatical function of inference, you could also say 'My understanding is....'.

You could also demonstrate your appreciation of the difference between 'implication' and 'inference' (and earn several Brownie points in so doing;-)) by saying 'The implication of what you say is that...'.

b

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"My understanding ..." and "The implication of..." are both useful. I knew "implication" but It's impersonal I think. "Understanding" was a word I had all forgotten about.

Any other ideas?

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

You could use 'gather'. Eg: " Am I to gather from your comments, Mr Roberts, that you are not in favour of reducing the speed limit?". This Mr Roberts is a politician who cannot give a straight answer.:roll:

"I gather from Julia that her sister's unhappy in her new job". Julia has said enough for me to infer this, without necessarily telling me outright.

However I wouldn't be afraid to use 'infer' - it's not used enough, perhaps because people are aware of 'imply' but haven't learnt the difference.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

"It seems to me..." is one way of putting it.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

The Dude said:

...

However I wouldn't be afraid to use 'infer' - it's not used enough, perhaps because people are aware of 'imply' but haven't learnt the difference.

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:up:

Khosro said:

"My understanding ..." and "The implication of..." are both useful. I knew "implication" but It's impersonal I think. "Understanding" was a word I had all forgotten about.

Any other ideas?

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Since the word 'synonym' has been mentioned, I hope you haven't inferred from what I said that 'inference' is synonymous with 'implication'. I didn't mean to imply that. It's just that often the two words can be appropriately applied to different aspects of a common situation.

Returning to the list of possibilities:

'[But] that suggests/seems [to me] to suggest...'

Or, more combatively, 'Are you trying to suggest...?' or 'Do you [really] expect <whoever> to believe/conclude/infer...?'

b

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

BobK said:

:up:


Since the word 'synonym' has been mentioned, I hope you haven't inferred from what I said that 'inference' is synonymous with 'implication'. I didn't mean to imply that. It's just that often the two words can be appropriately applied to different aspects of a common situation.

Returning to the list of possibilities:

'[But] that suggests/seems [to me] to suggest...'

Or, more combatively, 'Are you trying to suggest...?' or 'Do you [really] expect <whoever> to believe/conclude/infer...?'

b

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No, what matters to me is the "common situation". The reason I said "synonyms" was just to make me understood.

Those were usefull guys. Thanks.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Khosro said:

In one of the threads, some native speaker of English, While commenting on a threadstarter's post, said sentences with "my inference is" and "I infer that". (I am afraid "some" is offensive here. No offense intended indeed.)

I am sure that almost all of us have inferences about the posts and example sentences in them. Despite this, I had never heard any of the native speakers here say "inference" or "infer". My question is how do you talk about your inference when you do not use "inference" and "infer" themselves. I am looking for some synonyms and substitutes. I myself would say:"What I understood from your sentences is that...", but I am looking for some other sentences and phrases.

Thank you very much in advance!

Click to expand...

Well, GUILTY as charged. ;-) I use "infer/inference" as "arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence" (Webster). The "evidence", as provided in many of the posts here, is often presented out of context and therefore one must draw his/her best conclusion by evaluating the posts at face value.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Khosro said:

Despite this, I had never heard any of the native speakers here say "inference" or "infer".

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To get back to your OP:

I long ago gave up using 'infer'. I am a closet pedant, and I just got bored with explaining the difference between infer and imply. I began to feel that I was the only person still breathing who recognised a distinction that was perhaps no longer justified. Typical example dialogue:

5jj: I am an atheist
5jj's sister: If our mother were still alive, she'd be turning in her grave to hear you say that.
5jj: Would you like to rephrase that so that it makes some form of sense?
5jj's sister: Are you trying to infer that I'm stupid?
5jj: No. I may have implied that. It seems that you managed, despite your limited intelligence, to infer it.
5jj's sister. So you are inferring that I have laminated inelligence.
5jj: I didn't even imply it. It was pretty explicit.
5jj's sister. Ex-what?
5jj: QED.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

fivejedjon said:

To get back to your OP:

I long ago gave up using 'infer'. I am a closet pedant, and I just got bored with explaining the difference between infer and imply. I began to feel that I was the only person still breathing who recognised a distinction that was perhaps no longer justified. Typical example dialogue:

5jj: I am an atheist
5jj's sister: If our mother were still alive, she'd be turning in her grave to hear you say that.
5jj: Would you like to rephrase that so that it makes some form of sense?
5jj's sister: Are you trying to infer that I'm stupid?
5jj: No. I may have implied that. It seems that you managed, despite your limited intelligence, to infer it.
5jj's sister. So you are inferring that I have laminated inelligence.
5jj: I didn't even imply it. It was pretty explicit.
5jj's sister. Ex-what?
5jj: QED.

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Are you implying that now I am the "only person breathing" who recognizes the distinction? Because that's what I infer from your post. And I'm not sure about the "breathing".

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Well fivejedjon! As the song says that was a "communication breakdown". To me "infer" and "imply" are quite distinct from one another, as two sides of a coin. But what you said made me daubt that perhaps it wasn't just a communication breakdown between 5jj and his sister and perhaps "imply" and "infer" are not as distinct from each other as I think. I will look them up in some dictionaries again.

What makes me nervous is that perhaps verbs like "convey" and "infer" which sound very useful verbs to me are not that common at all. I am curious to know:
1- What sort of person I would look like if I use such verbs frequently.
2- What other verbs and phrases native speakers use that makes "convey" and "infer" almost useless for them.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Khosro said:

To me "infer" and "imply" are quite distinct from one another, as two sides of a coin. But what you said made me doubt that perhaps it wasn't just a communication breakdown between 5jj and his sister and perhaps "imply" and "infer" are not as distinct from each other as I think. I will look them up in some dictionaries again

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They are still distinct for some of us. Perhaps I should not have said, "I began to feel that I was the only person still breathing who recognised a distinction that was perhaps no longer justified." What I meant was that my annoyance at the misuse of 'infer' was perhaps no longer justified. I hear so many people using it when they mean 'imply' that it may not be many years before the distinction has disappeared. We old-timers appear to have lost the 'disinterested=uninterested" battle, so perhaps we'll lose the "infer=imply" one.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

5jj, you can't treat your sister like that!

I had no idea "imply" shared its meaning with "infer", but it seems to be acknowledged, doesn't it? Take a look:

b : to point out : indicate <this doth infer the zeal I had to see him — Shakespeare> <another survey…infers that two-thirds of all present computer installations are not paying for themselves — H. R. Chellman>
4
: suggest, hint <are you inferring I'm incompetent?>

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(MW)

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

birdeen's call said:

5jj, you can't treat your sister like that!

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You wouldn't say that if you'd met my sister.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

birdeen's call said:

5jj, you can't treat your sister like that!

I had no idea "imply" shared its meaning with "infer", but it seems to be acknowledged, doesn't it? Take a look:


(MW)

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No. The two are distinctly different in meaning and should be used as such. We have to recognise that other people get things wrong sometimes, and even a dictionary cannot be relied upon always to give the right definition or pronunciation of a word.:shock:

I do recommend as a code of practice, with this question as with any other, that you find out what is right and use it, always. Let others get it wrong, let most people get it wrong, but stick by what you know to be correct and you'll earn the respect of intelligent, educated people.

I could go on...:roll:

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

birdeen's call said:

5jj, you can't treat your sister like that!

I had no idea "imply" shared its meaning with "infer", but it seems to be acknowledged, doesn't it? Take a look:


(MW)

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Shakespeare is no friend of those particular about usage. He also used between you and I and many other things. ;-)

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

The Dude said:

I do recommend as a code of practice, with this question as with any other, that you find out what is right and use it, always. Let others get it wrong, let most people get it wrong, but stick by what you know to be correct and you'll earn the respect of intelligent, educated people.

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True, but many people won't even notice.:-(

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

The Dude said:

No. The two are distinctly different in meaning and should be used as such. We have to recognise that other people get things wrong sometimes, and even a dictionary cannot be relied upon always to give the right definition or pronunciation of a word.:shock:

I do recommend as a code of practice, with this question as with any other, that you find out what is right and use it, always. Let others get it wrong, let most people get it wrong, but stick by what you know to be correct and you'll earn the respect of intelligent, educated people.

I could go on...:roll:

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I sympathize (in what some people would call the correct meaning of the word ;-)), but doesn't it all depend on what you mean by 'right', 'wrong', and 'correct'? And "even a dictionary cannot be relied upon always to give the right definition or pronunciation of a word.:shock:" So where does that leave us? (The short answer is 'It leaves us knowing what's right on the basis of a lifetime's education and experience', but I can see why some people might not find this entirely convincing.)

b

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

What I find interesting is that many people think "infer" means "imply" but I have never heard anyone use "imply" when "infer" was the correct meaning.

You do indeed hear many people "Are you inferring..." when the person is implying, but not "I implied from that..." to when they had drawn a conclusion.

Re: "my inference is", "I infer that" and substitutes for these two

Fighting against ignorance and carelessness in the use of English has to be worth the effort. I feel that to establish and uphold clear guidelines is important for those of us who have to teach the language. We need to be able to say "This is right, this is wrong" and our students need this of us if they are to stand a chance of learning to use our language with clarity and conciseness.

I try to see things from the student's perspective when faced with a query, and this particular one is typical of many situations where a teacher can give clear advice on correct use and thereby allow the student to learn and move on. What's the use in teaching that it used to be this way but it seems to be changing, some say this, some say that and nobody really knows for sure? That may be of interest to an academic, but it makes life so much more difficult for the student who already has enough problems learning our language without our adding to them with woolly advice.

Dictionaries must bear some blame here. I should be able to turn to a dictionary to find out the correct meaning or pronunciation of a word. Is it a modern trend or have dictionaries always represented what, in their compilers' opinion, most people seem to be saying today? This practice leads to confusion, partly because their opinion may be wrong, partly because different dictionaries now give different answers.

The pronunciation of the word 'zoology' is a case in point. Given the origin of the word, as well as the logic of its formation, we know (don't we?) that it should be pronounced 'zo + ology', and so says my 1974 OED. But today's edition has given in to the prevalent 'zoo + ology', a result of ignorant people assuming it must be the study of zoos. This is crass advice to give, not only because of the historical background, but also because of its complete illogicality: this mispronunciation should be spelt 'zooology'. This is what I mean when I say that even dictionaries can get it wrong, and certainly disagree with each other, and I do feel for the poor student who is not finding out what he should say, but what is commonly said.

Of course many listeners will not even notice that you've used a particular word correctly, but that's why I advised that you should do so to hold the respect of educated people - a sad minority maybe, but I would rather be with them than support ignorance.

Oh dear, ranting like this always makes me feel old.