How can _you_ possibly know if someone understands you or not? And, how can _s/he_ possibly know? If someone tells me “I understand you”, I can just smile at that. Sure it’s a nice thing to hear (though, not as much as some good music coming from a nearby apartment -when your stereo is broken!). But how could I know what s/he has understood? Sure s/he thinks s/he has understood me, but for that s/he has to know who I am, and then realize that s/he understands that me who I am…:-?
Besides that, I don’t know if I understand myself, but surely I understand you;-)
Thanks for all your (mis)understanding ;-)
For me, it always comes down to “being here” or not, like in “I understand you as much as I _stand_ here (in front of you)”. The German word “verstehen” (understand) expresses this clearly. Etymologically “ver-stehen” can have 3 meanings: 1) stand in front of something or somebody, 2) to stand in a stronger sense (like stand more, better, or longer), and 3) to stand too much.
March 2nd, 2006 at 23:45
Feeling alike? Are you glad? Or are you feeling pity?
Tell me what exactly you have not understood!
October 20th, 2007 at 15:40
Well, that’s a funny thing to say!:-)
How can _you_ possibly know if someone understands you or not? And, how can _s/he_ possibly know? If someone tells me “I understand you”, I can just smile at that. Sure it’s a nice thing to hear (though, not as much as some good music coming from a nearby apartment -when your stereo is broken!). But how could I know what s/he has understood? Sure s/he thinks s/he has understood me, but for that s/he has to know who I am, and then realize that s/he understands that me who I am…:-?
Besides that, I don’t know if I understand myself, but surely I understand you;-)
October 20th, 2007 at 16:14
Thanks for all your (mis)understanding ;-)
For me, it always comes down to “being here” or not, like in “I understand you as much as I _stand_ here (in front of you)”. The German word “verstehen” (understand) expresses this clearly. Etymologically “ver-stehen” can have 3 meanings: 1) stand in front of something or somebody, 2) to stand in a stronger sense (like stand more, better, or longer), and 3) to stand too much.