<dontusethisaddr...@springequinox.co.uk> writes:
>J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
>> In message <hd41r7$na...@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk>, Robin Fairbairns
>><r...@cl.cam.ac.uk> writes:
>> []
>>> logical reasoning depends on a distinction between "infer" and
>>> "imply".  so it seems that people to want to defend to the last their
>>> inability to talk logically.
>>  I fear - because it offends me to - that the "preserve the
>>distinction"  argument is only valid if a case of confusion can
>>actually be proved.  What logical reasoning requires is that the two
>>concepts exist - not  that those two words are always used for them.

>Well, it seems to me that there is actual confusion. I quite often hear
>something like "You seem to be inferring that ..." or "I wasn't
>inferring ..." and I have to listen to quite a lot more and then
>mentally rewind what they've said before knowing whether they actually
>meant "inferring" or "implying".

>If they used another term instead, like "suggest" or "assume", I'd have
>no problem knowing what they meant, but it's a pity if we lose the
>proper meaning of "infer", which would do the job nicely if used
>correctly.