* * * * *




IMPLICIT

The human mind likes a good clear black-and-white contrast; when two
words so definitely promise one of these contrasts as _explicit_ and
_implicit_, and then dash our hopes by figuring in phrases where
contrast ceases to be visible--say in 'explicit support' and 'implicit
obedience', with _absolute_ or _complete_ or _full_ as a substitute
that might replace either or both--, we ask with some indignation
whether after all black is white, and perhaps decide that _implicit_
is a shifty word with which we will have no further dealings. It is
noteworthy in more than one respect.

First, it means for the most part the same as _implied_, and, as it is
certainly not so instantly intelligible to the average man, it might
have been expected to be so good as to die. That it has nevertheless
survived by the side of _implied_ is perhaps due to two causes: one is
that _explicit_ and _implicit_ make a neater antithesis than even
_expressed_ and _implied_ (we should write _all the conditions,
whether explicit or implicit_; but _all the implied conditions;
implied_ being much commoner than _implicit_ when the antithesis is
not given in full); and the other is that the adverb, whether of
_implicit_ or of _implied_, is more often wanted than the adjective,
and that _impliedly_ is felt to be a bad form; _implicitly_, preferred
to _impliedly_, helps to keep _implicit_ alive.