And, verbal language as only one component of the overall communicative purpose of verbal and nonverbal language. That is, if one intentionally obscures meaning by taking the technically-correct-but-commonly-unexpected sense of a verbal interaction, without seeking further clarification first--especially if done to subvert another person's intent, then one is questionably acting in good faith, which, over time, has a tendency to erode the foundation of trust between two communicative partners. This creates a situation where one may "win" the argument, but lose in the larger relationship. If the relationship in question has mid- or long-term value or utility to one, then this would appear to be counterproductive.
This jumped out at me as an excellent approach. Just wanted to flag it.
