To tease someone good-naturedly, like we just did to New Englanders. Your accent is wonderful and far more distinctly enjoyable than the mush-mouth of our home state. We can hear you across the parking lot. Ok, we'll stop now. (staap?)
Osmo Wiio is a Finnish communication researcher. He's got an excellent set of communication rules that humorously captures some of the foibles of communication:
If communication can fail, it will.
If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.
There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.
The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.
And if you thought that was good, Wiio's observation about the six people in a two-person conversation is especially excellent:
1. Who you think you areCommunicationFinlandHarmClarityPeopleMemorable writing
2. Who you think the other person is
3. Who the other person thinks you are.
4. Who the other person thinks he or she is
5. Who the other person thinks you are
6. Who the other person thinks you think he or she is