Upsetting Ribbi with poorly-phrased messages

ירושלמי כלאים פ"ט ה"ג

[רבי יהודה הנשיא היה אומר] אין סליק רב הונא ריש גלותא להכא אנא מותיב ליה לעיל מיניי דהוא מן יהודה ואנא מבנימין דהוא מן דכריא ואנא מן נוקבתא.  חד זמן אעל רבי חייא רובה לגביה אמר ליה הא רב הונא לבר נתכרכמו פניו של רבי.  אמר ליה ארונו בא.  אמר ליה פוק וחמי מאן בעי לך לבר.  ונפק ולא אשכח בר נש וידע דהוא כעיס עלוי.  עבד דלא עליל לגביה תלתין יומין.... לסוף תלת עשרתי שניא ותלתתוי יומיא עאל אליהו לגביה בדמות רבי חייא רובה.  אמר ליה מה מרי עביד.  אמר ליה חד שיניי מעיקרא לי.  אמר ליה חמי לה לי וחמי לה ליה ויהב אצבעתיה עלה ואינשמת.  למחר עאל רבי חייא רובה לגביה א"ל מה עביד אמר אי לכם חיות שבארץ ישראל אי לכם עוברות שבארץ ישראל.  אמר ליה אנא לא הוינא.  מן ההיא שעתא הוה נהיג ביה ביקר.  כד הוה עליל לבית וועדא הוה אמר יכנס רבי חייא רובה לפנים. 

Yerushalmi Kila'im 9:3 (loosely translated with help from the Pene Moshe)

Ribbi Yehuda HanNasi used to say, "If Rav Huna, the Resh Galuta (in Bavel) would come here (to Eretz Yisrael), I will give him a position above mine, because his lineage is from Yehuda via males, but my lineage is from Binyamin, and only traces back to Yehuda via females.
One time, Ribbi Chiya appeared before Ribbi and said, "Rav Huna came to town!"
Ribbi's face turned white. He had promised to give up his position to Rav Huna if he would ever show up!
"Don't worry," Ribbi Chiya added, "it's his coffin."
Rav Huna had passed away and was being brought to Israel to be buried.
Ribbi got very upset at Ribbi Chiya's poor choice of phrasing the message. "Chiya, I think someone wants to talk to you outside!" he said.
Ribbi Chiya stepped outside, and noticed that nobody was there to see him. He understood that Ribbi just wanted him out of his way because he had upset him.
Ribbi Chiya understood that he was no longer welcome in Ribbi's presence, and stopped coming to the bet midrash.
30 days after his disappearance, Eliyahu hanNavi appeared to Ribbi in the form of Ribbi Chiya. He found Ribbi in pain. "What's the matter?" he asked Ribbi.
"One of my teeth is killing me!" Ribbi answered. (Apparently, he had had this toothache for 13 years. During these 13 years, not a single animal in Israel died and not a single pregnant woman miscarried.)
"Which one?" he asked.
Ribbi showed him the injured tooth. Eliyahu rubbed it with his finger and the pain went away.
The next day, Ribbi Chiya visited Ribbi, hoping he would no longer be upset at him.
"What did you do?!" exclaimed Ribbi, "what will be of the animals and of the pregnant women?!"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to you yesterday!" responded Ribbi Chiya.
Ribbi put together what had happened. He was impressed by the fact that Eliyahu hanNavi took Ribbi Chiya's form to defend his honor, and from that day on, he treated Ribbi Chiya with utmost respect. When they would enter a building together, he would insist that Ribbi Chiya lead the way.

Although there are so many lessons to learn from this incident, perhaps the most powerful one is that we must always remember to phrase things properly. If Rav Huna is dead, say so! Don't make the recipient of your message fall under the impression that he is about to lose his position as Nasi!