Word: inference
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...next day the government announced that it would introduce legislation to limit the right of suspects in Northern Ireland to remain silent during legal proceedings. Courts could then infer guilt if a suspect refused to answer questions. While the right to silence has been a cornerstone of British criminal justice, the Conservative Party's 101-seat majority in the House of Commons makes passage of the measure virtually certain...
...each other in the dining hall, some at their best and calmest and others at their caffeinated worst. Often we dress uniformly (sweats), and we always sit in groups. What can we infer about each other, personally, morally, or whatever, from these observations? It would be optimistic to say nothing; still, I hope nothing is the answer. I can never tell by looking who is writing a novel and who is composing a string quartet; people continue their efforts nonetheless, and they continue to surprise...
...crux of Hedda Gabler's discontent, as we vaguely infer from the play's early scenes, has something to do with her recent marriage to the bookish George Tesman (Erik Salovaara). Hedda is not what you would call the Stepford wife type. She gains pleasure from slamming doors, playing loud piano mazurkas, and polishing gun barrels as opposed to silver flatware. As she so matter-of-factly puts it, "I have no talent for such things as responsibilities. I have a talent for only one thing in life--boring myself to death...
...facts might establish that unequal pay scales did indeed result from discrimination and were thus illegal. Says Winn Newman, an attorney for the union that lost the Washington case: "His decision went to the facts. The open question is what facts constitute a basis for a court to infer that the reason for disparity was discrimination...
Hopefully, you no longer object to sentences that begin with the modifier hopefully. If you do, forget it; the battle is lost. On the other hand, if you still insist that infer and imply mean two different things, hang tough, despite accusations of being a word prig; this is one the word prigs could win. As for the plural-singular identity crises suffered by words like data and media, stand by; they could go either...