[Dubh_Ghlase]

A coworker got into a heated argument with a "not-from-around-here" manager when he told her she was being "petty" about a certain point/issue. Turns out, she had no idea what "petty" meant and took it to mean she was being insulted. The coworker finally realized there was a "failure to communicate" and had to explain what "Petty" meant.

When english is a 2nd language, using colloquialisms to define technical issues doesn't work very well...

[Lizavetta]

Remember a few years ago some official used the word “niggardly” and the perpetually offended blacks of the day rose up in outrage .... clearly not knowing what the word meant.

[firebrand]

I once foolishly said to a young barista at Starbucks, “It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”

Turns out not only had she never heard that phrase but she only knew one meaning of the word “scheme” and thought she was being insulted.