Assign vs. Designate
Hi. I was wondering if you could explain me the difference between two verbs, assign and designate in the following context: " I put a rope on the floor and designate one side "True" and the other "False."

Thanks in advance.

Question

Assign vs. Designate
Hi. I was wondering if you could explain me the difference between two verbs, assign and designate in the following context: " I put a rope on the floor and designate one side "True" and the other "False."

Thanks in advance.

Answer

They are similar, and do sometimes overlap. To me the difference between them is the difference between having a function, and a name. If you are more giving something a name, you are designating it. If you are giving it a function, or responsibility you are assigning it. 
In this case, the names are arbitrary, so 'designate' works better.