ABSTRACT
For most readers, this proverb should elicit the experience of apprehending several kinds of meanings simultaneously. The meaning of the sentence itselfthe literal meaning-would be apprehended by anyone who reads English flu ently. In addition, readers familiar with the proverb will apprehend immediately a second kind of meaning, the meaning of the proverb. The expression is not just about glass houses and stones, but also about the vulnerability of people criticiz ing others for faults that they themselves have. The idiomatic meaning itself derives from the allusion to the glass house as a metaphor for vulnerability. Despite being able to determine both the literal and idiomatic meanings of the proverb, however, few readers experience the most important meaning of all: What did I, the writer, intend by my use of this proverb? In the absence of any relevant contextual information, the proverb can be understood only as an exam ple or illustration of some point, which of course it is.
