You're working to make yourself clear, while the writer is having to work to make Grace unclear (to be read in different ways). E.g. if Grace had simply said, "You're moving up in the world, so you should accept this opportunity to learn more etiquette, Anna!" there wouldn't be a misunderstanding. In other words, your read is a bit off since here the author is having to work in order to be misunderstandable.I'll always find misunderstandings that come from details omitted to be uncomfortable. One of my neurotic tendencies is being as precise as possible when speaking to prevent such things. To be fair though, no one has the desire to listen to endless nuance, so I end up saying that the more I learn of English, the less I can speak it.
In turn, it might be better to start phrasing things in ways to control expectations, so even if I'm not exacting, the end result will be the desired one. That thought always seems like a low level mind control technique though.
Additionally these are Nobles and being careful what you say and having multiple layers of subtext in a conversation is the default, context is important.You're working to make yourself clear, while the writer is having to work to make Grace unclear (to be read in different ways). E.g. if Grace had simply said, "You're moving up in the world, so you should accept this opportunity to learn more etiquette, Anna!" there wouldn't be a misunderstanding. In other words, your read is a bit off since here the author is having to work in order to be misunderstandable.
As for ordinary language... It's a compressed form of communication where common sense is expected to be used to fill in the details. Excessive explanation is pedantic, annoying and insulting (because you're essentially telling the other person, "You're an idiot who lacks common sense.")
Yep. I know. I tongue in cheek call myself a kin of Cassandra. I couldn't convince a cat out of a wet paper bag (in one ear, and out the other). Kept thinking that if I explained in more detail, people would change course. Never happened, so now I'm just stuck with an annoying habit of over explaining. Oh, the skill does make a good editor though. The faces of people I've edited for when they get back sheets of red ink, is priceless.You're working to make yourself clear, while the writer is having to work to make Grace unclear (to be read in different ways). E.g. if Grace had simply said, "You're moving up in the world, so you should accept this opportunity to learn more etiquette, Anna!" there wouldn't be a misunderstanding. In other words, your read is a bit off since here the author is having to work in order to be misunderstandable.
As for ordinary language... It's a compressed form of communication where common sense is expected to be used to fill in the details. Excessive explanation is pedantic, annoying and insulting (because you're essentially telling the other person, "You're an idiot who lacks common sense.")
Sounds like you're not listening to them. They're telling you that the way you're talking to them is annoying, but you're not hearing it. It's like me slowing down when someone is tailgating me. They're saying "Speed up!" and I'm responding with "Get off my ass!"Yep. I know. I tongue in cheek call myself a kin of Cassandra. I couldn't convince a cat out of a wet paper bag (in one ear, and out the other). Kept thinking that if I explained in more detail, people would change course. Never happened, so now I'm just stuck with an annoying habit of over explaining.
I'm not sure if that's good editing if people are that (presumably) unhappy with it. That said, I appreciate good editing since I'm almost blind to my own grammatical/homophone/etc. errors.Oh, the skill does make a good editor though. The faces of people I've edited for when they get back sheets of red ink, is priceless.
tbh for the protagonist it'd be a bad idea to explicitly say "hey if you married the prince so and so could happen" since that's an ungodly unrealistic possibility if you don't know what genre you're living, so I get it, and since she's just kinda agreeing it's easy for that to be vague.I'll always find misunderstandings that come from details omitted to be uncomfortable. One of my neurotic tendencies is being as precise as possible when speaking to prevent such things. To be fair though, no one has the desire to listen to endless nuance, so I end up saying that the more I learn of English, the less I can speak it.
In turn, it might be better to start phrasing things in ways to control expectations, so even if I'm not exacting, the end result will be the desired one. That thought always seems like a low level mind control technique though.