contextual cues
Environmental meaning signals
Contextual cues are signals from the surrounding environment that help interpret meaning.
In language, they're the words and sentences around an unfamiliar term that suggest its sense: I figured out "petrichor" from contextual cues—the passage mentioned rain and earthy smells.
More broadly, any situational information—tone of voice, facial expressions, setting—that aids understanding.
- cluesHints toward answers
- hintsIndirect suggestions
- subtle hintsUnderstated suggestions or cues
- signalsConveyed indications
- reading the roomPerceiving social cues accurately
environment · surroundings · subtext · hidden meaning · inference · reading · between the lines · between · interpretation · situational · situational awareness · background · nonverbal · tone · tone of voice · gestures · setting · implicit
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