This time of year, I hear a solid percentage of people say “I hate Christmas music.”
That is a defensible opinion, though I wish they’d say, “it’s not for me.”
But there’s more to it, I realized–because if you’re listening to Christmas music in a different way than I am, our experiences could be different enough to be utterly foreign. We could be talking about different things.
Because I’ll be honest: if my exposure to Christmas music mostly consisted of Mariah Carey, Wham!, Paul McCartney, two front teeth, and a hippopotamus, I might not like Christmas music either. My listening includes none of the above. So when you and I say the phrase “Christmas music” we might be describing two completely different things.
It’s good to remind my self that that’s not just for Christmas music. There are things that I might write off as “not for me” when the person I’m talking with is imagining something completely different than I am, just using the same words.
Before you render an opinion, agree on the terms!