Not so sure about that. It often seems that Chinese will manoeuvre around things far more than English will. E.g. http://seeingredinchina.com/2011/12/14/maybe-today-is-my-birthday-indirect-vs-direct-communication-in-china/

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If there were no misunderstanding, there would be A LOT LESS 对不对， 是吧, and the obligatory repitiion that happens in Chinese.

“Yea, I’d like to get a bottle of Qingdao.. ”
“YOU WANT A BOTTLE OF QINGDAO??”
“Sigh…. Yes, Exactly..”

Don’t forget, Chinese use CONTEXT just figure out the definition of the words. They’re just trying to figure out the MEANING of what you’re saying.

In English we don’t have tones, so the literal meaning of speech is obvious (unless there’s a homonym like reel/real); that gives us the freedom to do things like sarcasm, satire, being facetious, etc. I have been sarcastic on many an occasion here in uber-sophisticated Shanghai(that was sarcasm): it almost never works. It just doesn’t. The nuance is lost:

Me, trying to get to a 7pm date “Why don’t you go a little slower, you might catch the red light. It’s good money.”
Driver, dumbfounded, stops the car in the middle of traffic, causing bedlam behind us, “You want me to go slower?!”

Part of the reason is, again, tones: English speakers can tweak the pitch of their voice, to add snark, sweetness, to sound curt, rude, seductive, etc. With Chinese you might have a string of fourth tones in a loud bus terminal, and to passersby, sound like you’re livid with the person (your girlfriend) over the phone. For maximum effect try to listen to 5 minutes of Shanghainese. I dare you. For the Chinese, tones are a necessary part of communicating meaning, not subtext. As a result, the playfulness, and creativity of speech is nearly gutted. As you say… to the point.

Even outside of relationships and courting I have run into many middle-aged Chinese people who have no radar for sarcasm and will take almost everything you say at face value (regardless of the language you are speaking). Perhaps this is not a cultural artifact, but an issue of economic development. I have heard others voice the idea that people from less developed third world countries tend to take language more at face value. Perhaps this is also one valid interpretation. I’ve noticed this across various other Asian cultures as well. But this isn’t an all encompassing widespread phenomenon and perhaps I was generalizing a bit too much. But I do believe a part of this behavior, this view and lensing of the way language is accepted or rejected, ties in strongly with upbringing and the values that are instilled into people at an early age.