How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Hey, have you any idea what these strange symbols are?"
"I think they're just strange symbols of some kind," said Zaphod, hardly glancing back. (20.51-2)
Zaphod may be the worst communicator in the galaxy. Here's another example of why he's a terrible communicator: he doesn't bother to search for the meaning of things. Zaphod merely sees the surface of communication—to him, strange symbols are just strange symbols, not a message. Then again, Zaphod might be one of the most successful people in this book. (His planet hasn't been destroyed, after all.) So maybe communication is overrated?
Quote #8
The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the "Star Spangled Banner," but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish. (23.3)
In many cases, the narrator likes to present us with the communication and the miscommunication right next to each other. This way, the narrator can stress how far the real meaning is from the received meaning. Here, he tells us right off the bat that the "message was misinterpreted" before he tells us what the message really was. It's also funny to us that the message gets misinterpreted because the humans put it into a context that they understand (dolphins performing tricks) which is not the context that the dolphins understand (that they are smarter).
Quote #9
"Look, sorry—are we talking about the little white furry things with the cheese fixation and women standing on tables screaming in early sixties sitcoms?"
Slartibartfast coughed politely.
"Earthman," he said, "it is sometimes hard to follow your mode of speech. Remember I have been asleep inside this planet of Magrathea for five million years and know little of these early sixties sitcoms of which you speak. These creatures you call mice, you see, they are not quite as they appear. They are merely the protrusion into our dimension of vast hyperintelligent pandimensional beings. The whole business with the cheese and the squeaking is just a front." (24.51-3)
This is another of those onion comments, where there's layers and layers of things to analyze—well, at least two layers. First, we start off with Arthur's comment, which we can understand because we have the same background as him. Slartibartfast emphasizes this point by noting that he doesn't share a background with Arthur. Second, Slartibartfast notes how the mice have been deceiving humans, sending them a message about how mice are just stupid creatures, instead of the other way around. In other words, the mice are purposely miscommunicating.