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Mismatched phrases

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December 31, 2008, 08:59
BobHale
Mismatched phrases
Something struck me as odd about an advert I saw on TV yesterday. It doesn't matter what it was for (code for I can't remember what it was for Smile) but it started with this

"Don't just look, see. Don't just hear, listen."

It may just be me but I can't unscramble the meaning of this because for me look compares logically to listen while see compares logically to hear. I can decipher "Don't just look, see" as meaning that trying to do something is less important than doing it. (If we take "look" as being "try to see".) On the other hand "Don't just hear, listen." seems to be the opposite - that doing something is less important than trying to do it (with listen being "try to hear".)
The two halves of the slogan seem to me to be logically mismatched rendering the whole sound bite as gibberish.

Or is it just me over analysing again?


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 31, 2008, 10:09
zmježd
It could be interference from the secondary meaning of see 'understand' as in I see what you mean. But, yes, I agree that, for me, both look and listen are directed, volitional activities, and see and hear are things that can happen by chance without conscious processing of the incoming data.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
December 31, 2008, 11:46
<Proofreader>
Instead of "see" and "hear", the person could have said, "Become aware (of whaqt is happening)". Don't ignore or overlook a situation -- prejudicial acts, for example.
January 01, 2009, 19:43
Kalleh
Perhaps linguistically you are correct, Bob. However, I have to say that I would equate "see" with "listen" and "look" with "hear." You can look around, but miss really seeing the intricacies. Similarly, you can hear the words that your husband or wife are saying, but you're not always listening (for understanding). I don't know if that makes sense.