說者無心，聽者有意 / 说者无心，听者有意
shuō zhě wú xīn, tīng zhě yǒu yì
"speak person not-have heart, listen person have intent"
(from googling) The speaker has no intention, the listener takes it to heart
This saying is about the speaker saying something that then gets misinterpreted by the listener.
With my elephant's feet, I'm constantly getting myself into such situations: I end up treading on people's toes without meaning to.
After a couple of years in London, I wrote to my friends in Singapore, saying, "When/If you come over, I'd love to show you my London."
Fortunately, one of them wrote back to protest at this perceived disloyalty: "Oh, so it's now YOUR London, is it?" (I say "fortunately" because it drew my attention to how it could've been misinterpreted, and gave me a chance to explain myself.)
It was only then that I realised I should've added something to make it clear, something like, "...the London that I know, not the touristy version."
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