I said one swear word (a bad one) in front of my mother as a child and got my mouth washed out with soap. I developed a filter after that and have been quite successful with knowing when and where swearing is OK and when and where it isn't.

The world is not a terribly literal place. Speech is mostly not about words and it isn't about words being exactly right for everything all the time.

If you work with computers (which are very literal) for a good portion of your day, you need to develop a literal filter similar to your swear filter.

People are not computers. Start listening. Start paying attention to body language and context.

If you can't see the person, because you are on the phone, then you have to work harder. Or you can switch to video calls.

If you don't think someone meant exactly what they said, ask a question. Seek to understand.