The art of verbal communication is very important, in which, it isn’t just the words so being spoken that matter, but it’s also the context, the tone, the body language, as well as who the participants are in that conversation. So that, we find, that the very same words, with different inflections, or with a different audience, or with different body language, can most definitely have a very different meaning to different people and at different times. This so signifies that all the nuances so involved in a given conversation, actually matter and are therefore important, while also indicating to all those third parties that are not privy to a given conversation, that they may or may not subsequently interpret such, correctly.
Further to the point, not everything verbally expressed is always actually expressed with the correct verbiage, or timbre, all things considered, when trying to communicate well with another. That is to say, for instance, when people are emotionally upset or distraught, words can then be readily spoken, that are more dramatic, and often more hurtful, and thereby less caring, then they would be if that person was calmer and in better control of their emotions. This signifies that what a person says, especially when they are distressed about something, may mean entirely something else -- that actually hasn’t been verbally expressed well at that moment. So then, it can help to clarify a conversation, to actually ask the person so speaking, what is that they think they meant by what they said, instead of taking their remarks at face value or trying to interpret them, internally.
The thing about conversations, is that some conversations, can have a lasting impact upon one party or the other, or possibly both. So then, it behooves each participant to that conversation, to want to desire to comprehend what has or has not been really meant by the words so spoken, especially when something so said, has had an immediate negative impact upon another. Further to the point, this provides the participants to that conversation, a good opportunity to correct that which should be corrected, at the beginning of such, as contrasted to doing nothing, and thereby allowing that wound to remain unattended and to thereby fester.
Of course, there are plenty of good conversations, of real worth, and of real value to those so communicating; of which, it can be said, it’s vital to make sure that what a given person has heard and seems to thereby comprehend, is true to what has so been said, for sometimes people, in their eagerness to hear something good, hear only what they want to hear, while ignoring those parts that they don’t want to hear, and thereby to lose their good perspective on what has been actually said or meant by such. So, perhaps with some trepidation, it’s worth inquiring of the other person what they so mean, in what they have so said, for it’s better to know the truth, then to be deceived by one’s own distortion of such.
In short, it’s of value to desire to know what a person means by what they have so said, because clarity is part and parcel of what a good conversation should actually represent.