The Same Words
Misunderstanding does not always happen because we use different words. Sometimes we use exactly the same ones, but give them meanings shaped by different lives.
Context for this quote
Context
Language can create the illusion that we understand each other.
We hear familiar words like love, respect, loyalty, home, support or honesty, and assume the other person means what we mean.
Often, they do not.
Every important word carries something with it: family, culture, memory, disappointment, expectation and experience.
That is why two people can agree on the language and still disagree on the meaning.
Neither person necessarily has to be dishonest for misunderstanding to happen.
Sometimes we simply discover too late that we were attaching different promises to the same sentence.
Better communication is not only about choosing clearer words.
It is also about becoming curious about what those words mean to the person hearing them.
Because understanding begins when we stop assuming that sharing a vocabulary means sharing the same inner dictionary.