Thanks to the influence of my step-father i developed an awareness of always listening for the use of proper grammar and vocabulary, for myself in particular, since we all make occasional mistakes. In this post i remind myself of the differences between terms used to explain the source of an opinion or condition:
Conjecture: The formation or expression of an opinion without sufficient evidence or proof.
Surmise: To think or infer without strong evidence.
Guess: To arrive at, or commit oneself to, an opinion without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully.
Approximate: Not perfectly accurate.
Hypothesize: To form a proposition as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified phenomena either asserted or as a provisional conjecture to guide an investigation (i.e. "he will hypothesize, although unsubstantiated, that particles-to-people evolution occurs.")
Theory: A proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that report matters of fact.
