Originally Posted by
DaveW
When Bridgestone bought Firestone in the late '80's, many Japanese engineers came over to work with us. They were present to learn our strengths and to help us learn theirs.
Because of the native language difference, one had to be VERY sure the person from one nation understood the person from the other.
And, since the Japanese were too polite to ever say they didn't understand what we, the Firestone folks, were trying to say, we began ending every conversation with "Did you understand what I said?" to minimize mis- or non-communications. They would respond to a direct question like that, so it worked very well.
That was a very good lesson, and still affects how I say things, i.e., as precisely as I can.
Humor, jokes, and obscure references are often misunderstood on the web because you can't see the writer's face/body/hands to see how they meant it.