The explanation that wasn't

Not long ago my wife and I were out running errands and she offered to buy ice cream for the two of us. We stopped at a place that happened to be close and went up to to walk-in window. I looked at the menu and noticed that they offered something called a Twister.

"What's a Twister?" I asked the person behind the counter.

"You know, it's like a Blizzard," she said.

"What's a Blizzard?" I asked.

"You know, like a McFlurry."

"What's a McFlurry?"

At this point my wife stepped in and said, "He doesn't get out much." She explained to me that all three of these things were essentially soft serve ice creams with extra toppings (cookie crumbles, candy, etc.).

That I could understand.

The person behind the counter describing one brand name item in terms of another brand name item and then expanding that by saying it was like yet another brand name item was not giving me any information about what it was I was asking about.

She assumed that we shared a frame of reference. It we had, saying that a Twister was like a Blizzard would have been enough for me to understand. Since we did not share a frame of reference, her explanation was useless.

The implications for larger issues are obvious.