Winners #2 + WNW: What Are You Implying?

Wow! This giveaway has become such a riot; I'm loving it!

I've even got an update: ONE MORE prize has been added to the pot:

One lucky winner on Friday gets a copy of The Worldwide Ward Cookbook, by Deanna Buxton. If you don't win, no worries: the author is showing off some of her chocolate recipes at a fun event called, "Confessions of a Chocoholic Cook" on March 18 at the Scera lobby in Orem at 7pm. (I KNOW!) The event is free, but you must RSVP by the 16th. Just e-mail covenant promotions at gmail dot com. The book is now on the giveaway post.


(You are entered, right? You have until Friday night.)


NOW . . . today's prize winners from my week-long giveaway:

1) The open circle pendant from Jenn at Handmade from the Heart goes to: Rachelle at Rachelle Writes!

2) Brittany Mangus's book, Prepare Now for the Temple, goes to: Cheryl at Happy Meets Crazy. (Holy cow! We've got almost 400 entries so far, and she's won twice! Multiple entries are worth it, people!)

3) The TWO winners for copies of the CD An Angel to Watch over Me, a tribute to mothers, donated by Covenant Communications, goes to: Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm and to Beth L, who had only ONE entry. So even THAT works!

(Beth, your blog is private, and I have no e-mail for you. Be sure to contact me so you can get your prize!)


Come back tomorrow for the next set of winners!


Now, on to our regularly scheduled Word Nerd Wednesday:

I'm a fossil with some English issues, and today's topic is no different: imply vs. infer.

These are constantly mixed up, and I mean constantly. I've seen the mistake in General Conference reports. I mean, come on! It's so prevalent (much like nauseated/nauseous) that it wouldn't surprise me at all if eventually the rule goes away.

Which would make me sad. And seriously annoyed.

The wrong way is actually listed in one dictionary I checked (but not until the 4th definition, so that's something). Remember, dictionaries report what people are saying, not what's correct.

So what do imply and infer mean, and when do you use them?

They are two sides of the same relationship or event, much like speak and listen. One person is speaking, telling something, and the other person is listening, hearing the speaker.

Same event, different ends of the relationship.

It's the same with imply and infer. One person speaks and implies, or hints at, something, say that the neighbor's dog is really ugly.

But they don't say it outright. Maybe they say, "That dog Fuzzles looks like an ape."

You as the listener take that statement and interpret it as you will. You are inferring the meaning from what the speaker just said.

You could infer that your friend likes apes and therefore likes Fuzzles.

Or you might infer that your friend thinks Fuzzles is ugly because he looks like an ape.

Or you might infer something else that your friend never meant. (Maybe that Fuzzles has a missing tail because apes don't have tails?)

Whatever.

The point is that the speaker IMPLIES and the listener INFERS.

Another way to remember it: INFER has an F in it. When you infer, you FIGURE out the meaning, which begins with F.

The most common error is using infer for the speaker as in, "She's so rude. She totally inferred in the nastiest tone that these pants make me look fat."

No, the LISTENER inferred when the SPEAKER implied that the pants might not be the most flattering.

So I can imply my opinion on all kinds of matters without clearly saying what I mean.

Then I hope that whoever is listening to me infers my true meaning.

Clear as mud?

Today's tour stop:
Scripture Mom
And in case you missed it, Novembrance, who also chronicled how we became friends.