manner and meaning

My history instructor told me the following: "There's no difference between what you say and the way you say it."
Anybody care to comment?

So, there's no difference between, "He's an idiot, then.," and "He's an idiot, then?"? Or between "Fµ¢k off, @$$hole" and "I'm in rather a foul mood at the moment, so if you wouldn't mind letting me alone for a bit"?

Edited for grammar.

Episcopalians have a similar saying, in Latin: lex orandi, lex credendi. "That which you pray is that which you believe" (or something like that). This is the idea that what you do form your your belief (in religion).

The idea that manner and meaning are the same is a wholistic idea that really doesn't bear out in practice. If you look at practices of the lumpers vs. the splitters in lT, you have people with the same belief but whose manner of apporach is radically different.