In my dissertation research, I explore how, even without full comprehension, linguistic cues can impact people’s decision-making. People encounter language cues in most decision contexts. Ranging from product descriptions to small text-based nudges, language is constantly being deployed to inform and influence consumers. A common view is that to be persuaded by these cues, people need to be able to deliberate about them (Petty & Cacioppo 1986). Some theories of Pragmatics contend that if people cannot understand the literal meaning of the cue, then its presence in a decision context might not seem relevant (Sperber & Wilson 2002) and hence would be ignored. In my dissertation, however, I show that people use language cues, even without full comprehension, in their decisions. In Essay 1, I study how people make inferences about timing from the verb tense, and the consequences of those inferences on people’s intertemporal choices. I show that people do make inferences about timing from verb tense and that they spontaneously use verb tense when making choices, but only when there is a complete absence of other potential timing cues in the decision environment. I also show that using the same ambiguous timing cue (e.g., “soon), or using word pairs pretested as indistinguishable (e.g., “quickly” vs. “swiftly”) in the intertemporal choice options, blocks the impact of tense on choice. Thus, I show that the presence of even non-diagnostic linguistic information can override other information and impact choices. In Essay 2, I take the idea of inferences from non-diagnostic linguistic cues further and show that even fully incomprehensible language can enhance consumer perceptions and increase preference. I use both secondary data and experiments to document the main effect – across multiple cuisines, menus that add unfamiliar foreign language to the food names were preferred more than English only menus, holding constant the country of origin of the cuisine, because it makes the menu seem more authentic (and unique) and therefore of higher quality. Furthermore, the effect of foreign language is strongest among people who have overall positive country and cuisine perceptions, and like trying new foods. Thus, this paper suggests that even when language does not communicate literal information, it is not ignored, but instead prompts associations that impact consumer decisions. In Essay 3, I take the idea of incomprehensible language further by testing another common domain of such language – ingredient names in product information. Findings show that people choose products with chemical-seeming ingredients in their descriptions significantly less than products with natural-seeming ingredients, even when the ingredients have the same meaning. However, the effect is more nuanced – chemical-seeming ingredients are seen as more harmful, so in situations where perceived harm is tolerated because it implies higher perceived effectiveness, products with chemical-seeming ingredients are chosen more than when not. Thus, I show that people make pragmatic inferences about meaningful incomprehensible cues, when semantic meaning is not accessible. Even when people have multiple associations with those inferences, only the most important association, in the context of the current decision, impacts choice.