Periodically over at wordcraft debate arises about some aspect of prescriptive grammar, usually apostrophes, and sometimes it can get a little... shall we say... spirited. The current discussion is one we've had before (and doubtless will again) about "imply" and "infer".
Now let me say at the outset that when I use "imply" I mean "suggest" and when I use "infer" I mean "deduce". I am completely in line in my usage with the strictest interpreter of the strictest British style guide. However the historical facts aren't on my side. People have always used the two interchangeably (***oversimplification alert***) and continue to do so. Would I like everyone to use them as I do? I don't really care as long as I know what they mean. Do I think that my usage is correct and theirs incorrect? No, I don't. The OED prefers the distinction as I have described it. Webster also lists it this way round first but allows that "infer" is also used to mean "imply". I probably hear "infer" to mean "imply" at least as often as I hear "imply" itself, though the other way round is much rarer.
The facts are that people use the language in all sorts of ways, some of which go directly against other peoples opinions.
And that, rather than a replay of the eternal prescriptive/descriptive battle, is what I want to talk about. Opinions and facts. This year it seems I may be forced into teaching lower levels than I'd like and the question won't arise but when I teach the upper levels I try very hard to make this distinction clear to them. I have a lesson that I call "Lies, Opinions and Facts". You might think that the three are, at least in definition, easy to distinguish.
Lie: a statement that is known to be false made with the intention to deceive
Opinion: a statement that is believed to be true by the person making it but which other people may not believe to be true or of which other people may well believe the opposite to be true
Fact: a statement which is true.
Ah, if only things were that simple, and its all the fault of those pesky opinions. People become so wedded to the idea that their opinion is right that they treat it as fact. They become utterly convinced that people who mix up imply and infer are just plain wrong. Beyond that they become convinced that the people who say "hang on, the facts say otherwise" are also plain wrong.
In matters of linguistics this is all really rather trivial. But what about in the real world?
What happens when someone mistakes the opinion "democracy is the best form of Government" for a fact? I happen to believe this opinion myself (although I'd suggest "least bad" rather than "best") but I am aware that I could be wrong. I know it's an opinion. But if I really, truly, absolutely believed it to be fact would that give me the right, or even the duty, to impose it on someone else?
In my lesson I stick to a fairly trivial way of dealing with the topic - I use adverts, preferably from TV but print will do, and get the students to discuss whether the information presented is fact, opinion or lie. I do this intentionally because I have found in the past that weightier topics can cause actually argument in the class. This isn't so much from different opinions as from the flat out refusal to accept that a sincerely held belief can be just an opinion.
The biggie is "is there a God". I happen to believe, and believe strongly, that there isn't - but I accept that I have no way to demonstrate this, that I can logically never have a way to demonstrate this that will convince a believer, and that it is - however firmly I may believe it - an opinion. I only once attempted to use this as an example of the difference between fact and opinion. The mainly Islamic class united against me in a strong a demonstration of the confusion of opinion and fact as I have ever seen. To them the existence of God isn't an opinion, it's a fact. It's as much a fact as if you hit your thumb hard enough with a hammer it will hurt.
I have never used the example since. I prefer my lessons to generate light rather than heat. And they generally do. And that's a fact. :D
Now let me say at the outset that when I use "imply" I mean "suggest" and when I use "infer" I mean "deduce". I am completely in line in my usage with the strictest interpreter of the strictest British style guide. However the historical facts aren't on my side. People have always used the two interchangeably (***oversimplification alert***) and continue to do so. Would I like everyone to use them as I do? I don't really care as long as I know what they mean. Do I think that my usage is correct and theirs incorrect? No, I don't. The OED prefers the distinction as I have described it. Webster also lists it this way round first but allows that "infer" is also used to mean "imply". I probably hear "infer" to mean "imply" at least as often as I hear "imply" itself, though the other way round is much rarer.
The facts are that people use the language in all sorts of ways, some of which go directly against other peoples opinions.
And that, rather than a replay of the eternal prescriptive/descriptive battle, is what I want to talk about. Opinions and facts. This year it seems I may be forced into teaching lower levels than I'd like and the question won't arise but when I teach the upper levels I try very hard to make this distinction clear to them. I have a lesson that I call "Lies, Opinions and Facts". You might think that the three are, at least in definition, easy to distinguish.
Lie: a statement that is known to be false made with the intention to deceive
Opinion: a statement that is believed to be true by the person making it but which other people may not believe to be true or of which other people may well believe the opposite to be true
Fact: a statement which is true.
Ah, if only things were that simple, and its all the fault of those pesky opinions. People become so wedded to the idea that their opinion is right that they treat it as fact. They become utterly convinced that people who mix up imply and infer are just plain wrong. Beyond that they become convinced that the people who say "hang on, the facts say otherwise" are also plain wrong.
In matters of linguistics this is all really rather trivial. But what about in the real world?
What happens when someone mistakes the opinion "democracy is the best form of Government" for a fact? I happen to believe this opinion myself (although I'd suggest "least bad" rather than "best") but I am aware that I could be wrong. I know it's an opinion. But if I really, truly, absolutely believed it to be fact would that give me the right, or even the duty, to impose it on someone else?
In my lesson I stick to a fairly trivial way of dealing with the topic - I use adverts, preferably from TV but print will do, and get the students to discuss whether the information presented is fact, opinion or lie. I do this intentionally because I have found in the past that weightier topics can cause actually argument in the class. This isn't so much from different opinions as from the flat out refusal to accept that a sincerely held belief can be just an opinion.
The biggie is "is there a God". I happen to believe, and believe strongly, that there isn't - but I accept that I have no way to demonstrate this, that I can logically never have a way to demonstrate this that will convince a believer, and that it is - however firmly I may believe it - an opinion. I only once attempted to use this as an example of the difference between fact and opinion. The mainly Islamic class united against me in a strong a demonstration of the confusion of opinion and fact as I have ever seen. To them the existence of God isn't an opinion, it's a fact. It's as much a fact as if you hit your thumb hard enough with a hammer it will hurt.
I have never used the example since. I prefer my lessons to generate light rather than heat. And they generally do. And that's a fact. :D
