Hearing vs. Listening

We were having a silly disagreement in the car this afternoon coming home from shopping.

It had to do with the discount being offered in a store coupon. The deal was $2 off if you bought three multi-packs of a certain item. A real bargain, right?

Nevertheless, the discussion turned on the definition of multi-pack. True, there were two different sizes of multi-packs in the store, a 12-pack or a six-pack. We usually buy the six-pack. So I interpreted the coupon to be valid for our usual purchase, the six-pack, but this time for three of them.

My wife, however, wanted to make sure I was not confusing the term multi-pack with the larger 12-pack size. So we went around a bit on this major subject until I asked to see the coupon. Sure, enough, I expounded, we will get $2 off by buying three six-packs of the stuff. Which is what we did.

The “discussion” on the way home reminded me of how I define the difference between “hearing” and “listening.” Hearing means you hear the words. Listening means you understand the words.

Know what I mean?