I think it's funny. International students often say they feel excluded from conversations and from groups because their English is imperfect, but sometimes what Americans say simply makes no sense. Barriers to communication arise when we are vague, wordy, and imprecise, they say, but the biggest barriers are idioms. Good communication is the bedrock of human relationships. It lowers and removes barriers of misunderstanding that separate us from each other.
Good communication creates harmony, unity, and advances global peace.
Yet, students from around the world say while some communication may lead to greater understanding, a lot leads to confusion, distortions, and misunderstanding. When you consider most sentences you hear are ones you never heard before, no wonder people who are trying to master a language have difficulty. The wonder is that they're able to do it at all. I'd answer, 'Gee, I'm a little tired,' and they would be gone. Keyser calls it phatic communication.