Quote:
This is starting to irk me. The way people says things, their gestures, their expressions (body language), their intonations, the way they organize and present their information, how their presentation of information relates to previous ways they have presented information, the trend of how they've been expressing themselves in general, things you know about them from memory, when they pause in their speech or not, when they look at you or not, how they attempt to affect the flow of conversation, etc. All of these things speak volumes about what they mean. This cannot be denied. The content of what they say *also* speaks volumes about what they mean.
I think it does speak volumes, however I would hesitate to say it speaks volumes about what they mean. I will give you an example related to myself (hoping not to appear too boastful): most of the times my intonation, my gestures, my expressions and how many pauses I make while speaking are related to only one variable: how tired I am. By no means this reveals my attitude towards the person I'm speaking to - sometimes I might be slightly indifferent when speaking to a good friend of mine simply because I biked 150 kms the same day.