Regression analysis: conditional expectation value operator in the general equation, an abbreviation?

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A regression line can be stated as follows:

$E(Y|x) = a + x\beta$

where alpha and beta are constants. My question is, is this just some type of abbrevation as putting a number in place of x in the equation makes no sense. Instead it should be:

$E(Y|x=X) = a + x\beta $

Now by putting a number in place of x, the equation actually makes sense:

$E(Y|x=2) = \alpha + 2 \beta $

In contrast to:

$E(Y|2) = \alpha + 2 \beta $

The two refers to nothing.