How to Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
The message today is about taking a deeper and sometimes a second or third look at what appears to be an everyday common object, occurrence, or in my example, a phrase. All of a sudden, something you never really paid much attention to is everywhere and it takes on renewed meaning … maybe you realize that you have been saying it wrong for years. Did other people know you said it wrong and just didn't tell you? How long have you been saying "supposably" instead of "supposedly"?
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Common every day words and phrases – we hear them so often that we know what they mean even if we don't say them correctly or know why they mean what they have come to mean.
"The proof is in the pudding"
"You can't have your cake and eat it too"
These are two very common phrases and I bet that I have heard both of them at least once a week for the last several years. I would venture that everyone reading this entry today has heard them as well but have you ever stopped to think about what was actually being said?
"The proof is in the pudding" is not the entire phrase … it is "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". The first phrase doesn't make any sense … what's "proof" and why is it in pudding? Oh course, once you see the entire phrase it makes a little more sense … if you want proof as to whether or not the pudding is any good, all you have to do is eat it.
How about "You can't have your cake and eat it too"…? Of course you can have your cake and then eat it, the actual phrase is "you can't eat your cake and have it" … you know, because of that part when you ate it. Again, everybody says it wrong but we all know what it means.
But now that I've pointed it out to you,what will you do next time you hear someone say it incorrectly or incompletely? Will you correct them? Will you start saying it correctly now even though when other people hear it your "new" way, it won't sit quite right in their heads … like somehow you are the one who just said it wrong. Does it even matter that you've said it correctly when people know what you mean?
Words count for something and what you say and how you say it is important … including throwaway phrases. So when I am speaking to someone in any sort of official capacity, I try not to use throwaway phrases for the simple reason that they are throwaway phrases. Do you even hear them anymore?
At the end of the day, all things being equal, there are a ton of these everyday phrases and I try and avoid them like the plague.
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P.S. –
you know how I have mentioned that I write these posts sitting on the couch? Well, sometimes things happen … words get misspelled, sentences run on for ever (because I'm paying attention to what just happened on Boardwalk Empire or House). Normally I can catch and fix these things without you ever knowing they exist thanks to my crack team of proof readers who send me discreet emails pointing out things…
So I typically make all the graphics on my site (as if you couldn't tell … blushing … you're too nice). Anyways, I found a typo in the graphic I made for today's post and barely caught it before this went live but it was just too funny to not include, especially since today's post was on what you say and how it matters.
Enjoy my mistake, included here because I am a real person who doesn't sleep enough.
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it's a lot different without the 'r' isn't it?
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even better stuff from Life of an Architect
How to Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
Source: https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/say-what-you-mean-mean-what-you-say/