Fun with Communication

Disclaimer – In any of my posts, I am stating my opinion, or others opinions, unless I specifically state that I am stating fact.

Update: Yolo Cowboy reminded me that there are actually 8 different meanings instead of the 6 I posted this morning, so I added the other two.

In my last two posts the subject of understanding of sentences in the Bible and what they really mean came up several times. A fellow blogger – “Three Score and Ten or More” commented about semantics and the ability and inability for humans to really understand “words and their meanings”, so I thought I would post on the subject.

Let us examine a single sentence and how many ways people could mean it when they said it, and how many ways others could take it.

“I never said that Robert was a thief.”

Can eight words produce eight different meanings?

1. - “I” never said that Robert was a thief. Somebody else may have said it, but “I” never said it.

2. - I “never” said that Robert was a thief. Not yet anyway. I might say it tomorrow.

3. - I never “said” that Robert was a thief. I might have “implied” it, but I never “said” it.

4. - I never said "that" Robert was a thief. I said the "other" Robert was a thief, not him.

5. - I never said that “Robert” was a thief. I said “Bob” was, not Robert.

6. - I never said that Robert “was” a thief. I said he “is” a thief.

7. - I never said that Robert was "a" thief. I said he was "the" thief.

8. - I never said that Robert was a “thief.” I said he “stole something.”


Have fun!