Verbal communication is a fickle matter.

We spend all our time thinking of the right thing to say, or being inspired to passionately say it off the cuff, only to have it misheard by the other person.

“That’s not what I said!”

Quickly followed by,

“That’s not what I meant!”

Worse, the way it sounded in our head was crystal clear and when we went to speak, it came out a blubbering mess.

The popularity of text messaging seems to be an aversion to the above situations. It also allows you to constantly delete a message and rewrite it until the end result seems pretty neutral.

A mastery of the language (which can come about with the practice of writing and extensive luxury of reading) and confidence in what you’re saying can circumvent this issue (mostly – there will always be a few who only hear what they want).

However, it requires both or you risk sounding like an indecipherable weirdo or a confident fool.