There was a time in my life when I was a school psychologist. I was attending a national convention in Las Vegas and sitting in a seminar about a relatively new assessment battery. To preserve some anonymity to the persons involved, I'll call the test the Smith-Carlson Assessment Battery, or as school psychologists would refer to it, the SCAB. The presenter was neither Smith nor Carlson.

Part way through the presentation, one of the seminar attendees raised his hand and subsequently asked a question about the SCAB. The presenter responded "Obviously, Smith meant ..." and proceeded to answer the question with a tone of complete authority.

When the presenter finished his answer, a gentleman in the rear of the room stood and said, "I'm Smith, and that is not what I meant. I meant ..." and continued to tell what he meant.

When Smith was finished, even a pin dropping would have sounded like thunder and the presenter looked like he had just been in the ring with Ali.

And I sometimes wonder how many times I have said or thought, "I know what you mean," when in fact, I might not have had a clue.