"I can always give the benefit of the doubt and not assume worse than is written." Unfortunately, too few people do that, even when they speak the same language. Without body language, knowleddge of slang and local dialects and even the individual's personality, it can be difficult at best, though "emoticons" help :-) Perhaps super translation combined with an intelligent avatar that knows your personality and can pop up to say "He's really kidding you know."

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken