Did you infer that or imply it?

I was watching a detective-y murder-y mystery show the other day. One of the cops asked another one if he was inferring something or implying it. And that made me realise that I don’t know the difference and I’ve been using these two words interchangeably. Luckily the power of the internet means it’s easy to put this right. And the other bit of good news is that it’s not too hard to remember which one’s which – you just need to know who’s doing the doing.

The long answer

To imply means to suggest something without saying it directly. It’s when the friend you’re visiting looks at their watch and says ‘Oh, I didn’t realise how late it’s got,’ when what they actually mean is ‘Get out of my house because I want to go to bed’. Implying is all about suggesting something without saying it outright. And it’s always done by the person speaking (or writing, if you’re reading).

On the other hand, inferring is what a listener or reader does – they pick up on a hint and draw a conclusion. So when you hear ‘Oh, I didn’t realise how late it’s got’ and think, ‘Oh crap, I’ve outstayed my welcome,’ you’re inferring.

The short answer

• Imply = giving a hint.

• Infer = getting the hint.

One is about putting the message out there – the other one is about figuring it out.

A bit of word history

Both ‘imply’ and ‘infer’ have Latin roots. ‘Imply’ comes from ‘implicare’, meaning ‘to entwine’ or ‘to involve’ – because it’s all about weaving ideas together subtly. ‘Infer’, on the other hand, comes from ‘inferre’, meaning ‘to bring in’ or ‘to deduce’. That’s because it’s about bringing meaning out of what’s been said.

Does it matter?

Obviously, it’s not the end of the world if you get these the wrong way round. But it could confuse someone. For example, ‘She inferred I had to leave’ and ‘She implied I had to leave’ mean completely different things. So it’s worth making sure you’re using the right one.

C’est what?

I spend a lot of my time editing enormo legal books packed with esoteric jargon (lucky me!) and some of the longest sentences known to man (or woman). A lot of those terms are Latin (for example, habeas corpus, prima facie, ex parte, pro bono, etc). But it turns out lots of our legal terms have also been infiltrated by another language. And that language is French. Specifically, Old French, which was spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century (roughly – I mean the years are rough, not that the Old French was spoken roughly).

Old French developed from Latin and evolved into Middle French, which eventually led to the modern French language that I’ve been learning on Duolingo for years, yet still can’t say anything remotely useful in.

Let’s have a look at Old French in action.

Les mots

• ‘Attorney’ comes from the Old French word ‘atorne’, meaning ‘to assign’.

• ‘Court’ is from (say it in a French accent) ‘court’, meaning ‘enclosed yard’ or ‘sovereign’s residence’.

• ‘Plaintiff’ (now pretty much replaced by ‘claimant’) is from ‘plaintif’, meaning ‘complaining’ or ‘lamenting’.

• ‘Defendant’ is from (get the accent ready again) ‘defendant’, meaning ‘defender’.

• ‘Bailiff’ is from ‘baillif’, meaning ‘administrative official’ (dunno why we added another ‘f’ – maybe so it matched ‘plaintiff’?).

• ‘Jury’ is from ‘juré’, meaning ‘sworn’.

• ‘Larceny’ is from ‘larrecin’, meaning ‘theft’. 

• ‘Trespass’ is from ‘trespas’, meaning ‘wrongdoing’.

Pourquoi?

We have the Norman Conquest of 1066 to thank for all these French words sneaking in and stealing our English words’ jobs. That’s because the Normans, who were originally Vikings but settled in what’s now Northern France and adopted French as their own language, became the ruling class in England. And that meant French became the language of the English aristocracy and, therefore, the legal system, for several centuries.

English (well, the incomprehensible Chaucer-esque Middle kind, anyway) eventually came back into fashion around the time of the Plantagenets (from the 12th to the 15th centuries). And over time, it would go on to replace French as the dominant language in all parts of society. But our Gallic cousins’ influence still remains in the legal lexicon today. Sacre bleu.

I’ve included this video by Kid Creole & the Coconuts because it was the first time I ever heard the word ‘larceny’ (‘He caught the mug who did in the forgery / And the babe in charge of larceny’), and also because it is a CHOON.