I am interested in the limits message length imposes on our communication. When I look up "message length" in Google, the first page of results is all about text messaging but the subject I am thinking about is much bigger. Most teachers, professors and speakers are quite conscious of how long they have. "We can give you one minute" for your introduction, "Classes here are 50 minutes long", Obama's memoir will be published in two volumes.
Say my angel visits me. She has a message of great importance. I believe it but I really hope I don't fall asleep while listening to it. Oh, she is delivering a written message, but like the cash register receipt that includes coupons and deals, it goes on and on and on. I have flitty, flighty attention and my focus may wander before the message has been completely spoken. I wear hearing aids and I may miss some of the important text. I don't want to get into the business of how much I remember. I can't even guarantee that I will understand all the heavenly terms nor that the whole business will be acceptable to me.
860.3 million words are one estimate of the number of words spoken in a whole life of an English speaker
So 860.3 million words certainly sounds like a lot. However, getting our heads around that number requires some perspective. Here goes: In one lifetime, the average person speaks the equivalent of the entire text of the complete 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (OED) more than 14.5 times.Nov 12, 2015
How Many Words Do We Speak in a Lifetime? | ProEdit
That figure seems large enough that most important messages will at least fit in a lifetime's capacity. Note that we didn't get into words WRITTEN.
Text messages and Tweets and maybe other social media allow up to 280 characters. Up to here, this post contains 1749 characters. If the spaces are skipped, the count drops to 1435.
[By the way, see "Spaces Between Words" by Paul Saenger for the invention of spaces between words and the resulting development of silent reading. https://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2018/05/slow-silent-social-reading.html ]
Don't you think it can be romantic and intriguing if he sits down beside her and he only has time and opportunity to say one word to interest her? Ok, one sentence. Or, how about if you get a chance to speak to the Pope or the king or the president but he only has 10 seconds to listen?
I have heard that "brevity is the soul of wit". Google tells me the phrase is part of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and that the speaker goes on and on. Just like I have witnessed with speakers who say "quickly now". Those words are a red flashing sign that the talk is being extended. (471 words)
