Socrates’ main argument is that the word itself cannot teach but that it takes someone to learn. If Socrates sat down and explained to a student, he could impart not only the written word but other examples from their own lives. But the word can be uprooted from its context and read by many who will learn just the word instead of the meaning of the whole of it. There’s even a whole class of philosophy who argues _inside_ the definition of words.