Are you Implying that I Inferred?

A concept I found interesting was the Inferring and Implying section in chapter 5 of the Epstein book. Infer and imply can be easily be mistaken to be synonymous. This section helped me greatly understand and distinguish the difference between the two. According the Epstein, “When someone leaves a conclusion unsaid, he or she is implying the conclusion. When you decide that an unstated claim is the conclusion, you are inferring that claim. We can also say someone is implying a claim if in context it’s clear he or she believes the claim. In that case we infer that the person believes the claim.” There are probably countless times when I have switched the two and used them improperly. I also liked how the section describes how implying and inferring can be tricky and lead you to hot water. Sometimes claims or conclusions just seem too obvious that we infer or imply although we should not.