While on the subject of language, I would like to comment on a typical communications problem.
This phase [sic], “Swino the laddo,” came into being as a result of “half-listening” at the dinner table. One person said something to her friend. This friend understood the message and therefore heard what her friend had said. I heard, or rather thought I heard interpreted what the speaker said as “swino the laddo.” When I commented on what I thought the speaker said, it was soon clarified as that what she had really said was not what I heard. The difference this time was that my attention was now focused on the conversation and I was able to receive the messages properly. What she actually said was, “Do you still want to go to the library?“.
OR AS THE SAYING GOES:
“I know that you
believe you
understood what
you think I said,
but I am not sure
you realize
that what you heard
is not
what I meant.”
[written in October, 1979, and transcribed from Mike Jourard’s Communications Log: A Project for Humanties HU.140.6, York University, 1979-80. I was 19 years old at the time.]
