I realize that when you’ve asked a person a question & their immediate response is “what do you mean”, 90% of the time, they already know what it is that you mean. It’s like some sort of placeholder or small time frame used to prepare an even more stupid & pointless response which usually begins with “well, I mean…” or “I’m saying…” When one is unfamiliar with the concept of honesty, they will do and/or say anything to stray away from it.
I digress..
As annoying as these responses are, they are frequently used in the most common of conversations & even disagreements…& I must admit, I myself have succumbed to the pressure of using “what do you mean”& each & EVERY time I’ve prepared my lips to speak such ignorance, it preceded a lie. This furthers my research on the meaningless phrase in such a way that helps me to understand exactly why people so frequently resort to it. When said to me, I’m aware that it only paves the way for more untruths & immediately my willingness to give the person the slightest chance at honesty goes out the window.
So in conclusion, I’ve prepared a hypothetical situation… the next time someone blatantly lies to me & asks "do you believe me?" without processing the nature of the question or even giving it the slightest amount of thought, my immediate response will be: “What ever do you mean?"
:)
