Biblical Hebrew Forum

["J. Raymond Kelley" <jraykelley AT prodigy.net>]

Robert Holmstedt wrote:

> Harold,
>
> I agree with you that there is often a difference (register, perhaps?)
> between written and spoken language.  And certainly forming sentences is
> not an "unconscious" process (or I couldn't even be typing at this very
> moment).  And I try (but don't always succeed) in choosing my words
> carefully, when writing or speaking.  ;-)
>
>  
LOL

Anecdotally, one need go no further than past exchanges on this list 
amongst people who think that they have expressed their thoughts before 
hitting "send" only to find themselves later "explaining" something that 
they were thinking but did not express in the written word or perhaps 
explaining word usage intended but missed by the audience (such as a bad 
pun or joke, for example, where the mental assumption of familiarity 
with the intended recipient forgets that body language and tone gets 
lost in this medium), and suddenly there is an interruption in the 
intended discussion wherein explanations and sometimes apologies about 
the mental process or intended meaning get exchanged.

Ray