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So, I was talking with a friend of mine a little while back about what "relying" on something means.

His take was that to "rely" on something was to completely depend on the "something", as in only the something and not any portion of "something else".

My take was that to "rely" on something meant to primarily depend on the "something", where you can use a portion of "something else", but it can not provide more utility than than "something"

With that in mind, if you are instructed, "do not rely" on 'something', would that mean that you could not use "something" in it's entirety ( like my friend would argue ), or would it instead mean that you can utilize 'something' so long as it does not provide the greatest amount of utility? (like I would argue)

Websters Dictionary, Dictionary.com, and our phone dictionaries did not help clear the matter up at all as they vaguely state "to depend confidently" or "put trust in".

So Gurus of English Stack Exchange, what's the correct meaning?

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  • Basically, "rely" means to "trust". If something is unreliable you should, to be prudent, anticipate the possibility that it will fail to do what you want. For a car this may simply mean that you should carry a cellphone in case the car breaks down. For a parachute you would certainly, at a minimum, want to have a reserve chute available. For a brain surgeon you'd want to find a different one.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 2:39

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To depend confidently on and put trust in do actually convey the correct meaning when properly understood. When you rely on something that means you place the successful outcome of your endeavor on the proper performance of that thing. In other words, if the thing that you rely on fails, then you cannot complete your mission successfully. You may use something without relying on it if you have a contingency plan that allows you to complete your objective by other, perhaps less satisfactory, means.

If I rely on you to get me to the party and you forget to pick me up, then I never get to the party. If I ask you for a ride but also know that I can call my brother if you fail to show up, even though I might get to the party a little late if I have to do that, then I am not relying on you to get there. I may be relying on you to get me there on time.

Going back to the dictionary definitions: IF I depend confidently in you to get me to the party that means my dependence in you is complete and if you fail then I fail. Likewise if I trust you to get me to the party and you betray my trust then again I don't make it.

If I don't trust you or don't want to depend on you, i.e., I don't want to rely on you, then I make backup plans.

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