Scared by Lacey

by J. L. Speranza
-- for the Grice Club

BLAME _me_. On one of those days, I would browse the net, to bring stuff (or stuffs as Grice prefers) for the Club. I usually type, "Oxonian", "Engish", "implication, "H. P. Grice". My ambition, or hope, to hit a VERY old cite from the golden days of Oxford philosophy. For some reason, while doing that, I hit Lacey's entry on Grice (one of the TWO or three: the other is under 'meaning' and the third may be under 'perception'). Lacey writes:

"A non-deliberate frown could only ‘imply’ anger causally, rather as rainbows imply rain."

Variations on a theme by Lacey.

i. Grice frowned. His frown implied he was angry.
ii. Grice frowned. His frown 'implied' he was angry.

iii. That rainbow implied that it rained.
iv. That rainbow 'implied' that it rained.

STRICT variants:

What Lacey wrote:

"A non-deliberate frown could only ‘imply’ anger causally, rather as rainbows imply rain."

What Lacey meant:

"A non-deliberate frown could only imply anger causally, rather as rainbows 'imply' rain".

What Lacey implied:

Whatever!