It is always interesting to me to watch the evolution of language. A good example I've run into a couple of times already today is "infer" vs "imply". Historically, these words have had very different meanings. An inference denotes a conclusion you draw from observed data. An implication is encouragement to others to draw an inference from data you have provided…
These days, "imply" seems to be pretty much dead. It has been largely replaced by "infer". You often hear the phrase "What are you inferring?" now. As I'm old, that means something completely different to me than it does to language newbs.
I'm not against language evolution in general. One might as well be against gravity. I think an important distinction is being lost here. However, apparently it's more important to me than to most of the public. Such is life.
Now that I've pointed it out, though, listen for "infer" and "imply" in daily conversations and watch for them in print. I'd be curious to hear if you infer the change I'm implying (ok, claiming) exists. (B)