It’s all about context
October 27, 2010Here’s one to cause confusion in a teleconference.
I’m currently working on a document that includes a reference to the ‘Anchor Management Procedure’. On reading it, my first interpretation was ‘Anger Management Procedure’!
If I was in a teleconference, that ‘Anchor Management Procedure’ phrase could well cause confusion. Of course, if the topic was constructing a jetty (which is what this section of the document is about), then it’s pretty clear.
It’s all about context…
(BTW, I didn’t realize that when I read I ‘hear’ the sounds of the words in my head. Do you ‘read aloud’ in your head when reading? Or are they just letters and words on a page?)
I think I have different ways of reading. One is for quickly scanning or searching text for something, and that is usually visual only. When I am reading or proofing something I have written, I go into the mental read-aloud mode that lets me “hear” the text being read in my mind.
When I read for pleasure, I seem to shift back and forth between the two modes, depending on how much the story grabs my attention, or whether I am too tired to just read it visually.