Tactical Misunderstanding in Speech Communication

In her book 'The Myth of Mars and Venus,' Deborah Cameron explores the concept of tactical misunderstanding in communication. She gives an example of how subtle context cues can lead to different interpretations of simple requests. For instance, when her dad asked 'do we have any ketchup?' he really meant 'can you get me some ketchup?' whereas when she asked the same question, her mom responded with instructions to find the ketchup herself. This highlights how much of our communication relies on implicit meanings rather than literal words.