Learn English – an idiomatic parallel for “read between the lines” pertaining to speech

figures-of-speechidiomsspeechvariants

When a person reads between the lines, they are inferring meaning which is not explicitly represented. What is an idiomatic version of this which can apply to spoken words?
Vis–à–vis something similar to describing a speaker's attitude as an “undercurrent” of whatever.

BTW, something like ‘to hear that which was not said’ or the like would probably not be a proper idiom.

P.S. I've seen the question 'Between the lines' or 'read between the lines', and this is not a duplicate of that by any interpretation.

Best Answer

The idiom 'read between lines' can be applied to spoken words as well.

read between the lines: (idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

to find a hidden meaning in something said or written.

The report doesn't criticize the research directly, but you can read between the lines that the review committee wasn't impressed.

After listening to what she said, if you read between the lines, you can begin to see what she really means.

It seems the following phrasal verb is also fit:

delve into something ( Cambridge Dictionary)

to examine something carefully in order to discover more information about someone or something:

It's not always a good idea to delve too deeply into someone's past.

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