'I kind of see what you mean' ... 'hmm, not sure I get you' ... 'nope, you've lost me'.
All phrases we're used to hearing in our British culture (whatever that is, and I actually wish people would stop bleating on about what it could possibly mean. Just shut up and be it for a while).
But - I digress - we only say those things because we're a bunch of people here in the western world who feel that the burden of making sure communication is achieved falls on the communicator rather than the receiver.
We accept that it's up to the person making a point to make it clearly otherwise we feel quite happy to ask them to repeat it, or switch off, or blame them if we don't 'get it'.
Japan, in contrast, is a country where the reverse is the case. The responsibility for achieving successful communication falls on the receiver, the hearer. If something's not clear, it's been your fault for not grasping the sense or the context.
Imagine how much easier the job of the advertiser would be if this were the case in our world...
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