Implied Answer

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Someone does not directly answer a question (and might not technically respond at all)--but still makes him/herself crystal clear. The person who asked the question may then reply "I'll take that as a [yes\no]".

Inverse of:

  • Non-Answer: when someone directly responds with something so vague it's not an answer at all.
  • Mathematician's Answer: when the response is direct and absolutely correct, but is utterly useless anyways.
Examples of Implied Answer include:

Film

Danny: Ten oughta do it, don't you think?
Rusty: [Stares of in silence, not looking at Danny]
Danny: You think we need one more?
Rusty: [Silence]
Danny: You think we need one more.
Rusty: [Silence]
Danny: All right, we'll get one more.
Rusty: [Blinks]

Webcomics

  • In Exterminatus Now, Lothar is fighting some dragons. The others ask Lothar if he'll be okay. They take a dragon's head bouncing off a wall as a "yes".
  • In this episode of Black Eye Comics, someone flirtatiously asks if the cashier is going to pay for her sandwich. His only "answer" is to give her an irritated look, and she unhappily digs through her purse for money.