The misunderstood phrase

The plots of many Christie stories depend on a certain phrase or utterance being misunderstood or partially understood. Discerning what the phrase or utterance actually meant is often key to solving the mystery. At times, a criminal intends the phrase to be misunderstood as misdirection. At other times, the phrase is uttered by the victim of a crime and circumstances prevent the expression from being made clearer or less ambiguious. Sometimes a phrase is misunderstood or repeated by a witness incorrectly because it is heard/overheard without context or the witness assumed an incorrect context.

Stories where a misunderstod phrase are a plot device

 * Sanctuary - a dying man in the church says something which Diana "Bunch" Harmon assumes to be "Julian" (her husband's name). This is later found to be "Jewel".
 * The Thumb Mark of St. Peter - a dying man is heard to utter "pile-of-carp". It is finally determined that he was asking for "pilocarpine". Miss Marple calls this the Grey Wethers effect where the context influences the understanding. The same plot device is used in the 2013 ITV adaptation of Greenshaw's Folly.
 * A Murder is Announced - "She wasn't there". Understanding who "she" referred to and which word was stressed is crucial to the meaning. This sort of ambiguity may not be possible in some other languages.
 * The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side - "She did it on purpose" - the speaker was ambiguous about who "she" referred to.
 * The Moving Finger - "I can't go on". Out of it's proper context, it looked like a suicide note and served to misdirect.
 * Appointment with Death - "I never forget ... not a face" - Sarah King misunderstood to whom the utterance was directed at.
 * Murder in Mesopotamia - "The window...." uttered by Anne Johnson as she died.
 * Why Didn't They Ask Evans? - This question was asked by a dying man. Discovering what this means forms the main plot of the book.
 * The Clocks - “What she said didn’t make sense.” said by Edna Brent.