Sandman
An implication can never be unintended. You can infer what you THOUGHT was an implication, but only the speaker/writer can know if it actually was an implication.

Eric Stevens
Not so. The reader gathers the implication from the words. He can have no knowledge of what the writer actually had in mind when he wrote them.

Sandman
That's called "inference". Where the reader infers meaning from the writer's words that aren't explicitly written.

Eric Stevens
One example of unintended implication is ...

Sandman
What sometimes is called "unintended implication" is when a statement by someone has an obvious inference that the writer didn't think of. When a car ad says "New and improved", it's sometimes called an "unintended implication" that the old model was old and lousy.

But, as you can probably realize, that *wasn't* the implication in any shape or form, since an implication is when the writer indicates the existence of something by suggestion rather than explicit reference, which the one making the car ad certainly didn't do.

You're welcome.

Eric Stevens
Why are you using quotation marks when you are not actually quoting?