{"id":31,"date":"2015-02-23T11:19:39","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T11:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/?p=31"},"modified":"2015-02-23T11:19:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T11:19:39","slug":"the-tough-life-of-a-literalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/?p=31","title":{"rendered":"The tough life of a “Literalist”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n \"Fb-Button\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/fb:like>\n\n

\"maze<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally something clear<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Literalist.\u00a0 Defined as a person\u00a0who “adheres to the<\/span> exact<\/span> letter<\/span> or<\/span> the<\/span> literal<\/span><\/span><\/a> sense,<\/span> as<\/span> in<\/span> translation<\/span> or<\/span> <\/em>interpretation<\/em>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I am one.<\/p>\n

Indeed, my natural tendency is to give proportionally more weight to the actual words, spoken or written, rather than to the broader context of communication.\u00a0 I like language, I like precision, so when I listen I do concentrate on the words and their meaning.<\/p>\n

By the way, this trait is often associated with Asperger Syndrome, or with na\u00efve personalities.\u00a0 I do not think I am either, maybe I can be a bit pedantic.\u00a0 I can – especially in a business context – read non verbal very well.\u00a0 I can read between the lines and distinguish between the literal meaning of an idiom and its real colloquial significance.\u00a0 But…. I do not like it.\u00a0 I do like – conversely – to be a literalist.\u00a0 I find it faster, more precise and pleasing.\u00a0 I wonder if it is also because I am Libran.<\/p>\n

This can lead to confusing or sometimes hilarious situations.\u00a0 For example, when interacting with people on the phone as I request an appointment, I am often asked: “What was your name?” That question always entertains me.\u00a0 I often answer: “My name has not changed recently…”<\/p>\n

I must admit I have never been successful. People do not find my answer funny (I think it is)\u00a0 I am just met with silence or – when in person – by a very confused look.\u00a0 But – really – shouldn’t the question be: “what Is your name?”<\/p>\n

Since when in Australian English “Is” has become impolite\/threatening and “Was” is instead polite and politically correct?<\/p>\n

Obviously, I also find the use of the adverb “literally” severely abused.\u00a0 Random quotes I often hear, which of course arouse my curiosity: “I literally saw people from another planet last night at the pub” (what, an alien invasion at the pub?) Or: “When I saw him, my legs literally tuned into jelly” (edible?).<\/p>\n

In conclusion, I am a proud literalist.\u00a0 I am aware of the difficulty and tough series of misunderstanding this characteristic can bring upon me.\u00a0 I invoke the sympathy of those less literal and better connected to a broader communication set.\u00a0 And I salute other fellow literalist: after all, we are just more accurate, aren’t we?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n<\/fb:like>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally something clear   A Literalist.\u00a0 Defined as a person\u00a0who “adheres to the exact letter or the literal sense, as in translation or interpretation“. So I am one. Indeed, my […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[23,22,21],"class_list":["entry","author-joseph-crepaldicrescendopartners-com-au","post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-factoids-and-trivia","category-general","tag-language-precision","tag-literalism","tag-literalist"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5MSSY-v","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}