Quote:
Originally Posted by billethkid
people will always be different when face to face...it is just human nature.
Some of the bold and at times offensive are that way only because they have anonymity to shield them.
We must also keep in mind no two people see/hear/interpret very much the same way. Especially in absence and written expression.
Just think of the variety of interpretations from any sized group about the temperature in a room. Too cold? Too warm? A draft? Hurts my lumbago? Open the door? Close the door? Turn on the fan? Turn off the fan?
Words from a key board are no different.
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BTK is correct, of course. The written word can be interpreted in many ways due to lack of context, lack of emphasis or expression, and the writer's attempt to be concise, and therefore leave out the context. I have never forgotten Zig Ziglar using the example of how words can change meaning due to emphasis. He used what seems like a straightforward expression -
"I didn't say I beat my wife" If the emphasis is on the "I" it indicates that someone else may have said it, but not me. If the emphasis is on the "didn't", it is an emphatic denial. If the emphasis is on the "say" it implies I may have inferred it, but I didn't SAY it. If the emphasis is on the second "I", it implies someone else may have beaten her, but not me. If the emphasis is of the "beat", it implies the I may have smacked her, but I certainly didn't BEAT her. If the emphasis is on the "my", it implies I beat someone elses wife, but not mine. And if the emphasis is on "wife", It implies I may have beaten someone, but not my WIFE. Silly example perhaps, but it makes the point that the written word can be interpreted in many ways.