David Chase(the wonderful creator of The Sopranos) has said on more than one occasion that people don’t say what they mean.

I think in your scenario that’s applying both ways.

This has been a theme for me over the past couple of years. I'm noticing the limitations of words and language, including those that come out of my own mouth.

You can choose your words carefully, but it's useless unless your audience knows to look for those nuances.

Sometimes, in group meetings, I've caught myself repeating something twice in a slightly different way to increase the probability that people understood it correctly. But you can't repeat yourself all the time or else people will think something's wrong with you.