Communication styles differ across cultures and situations. Not only do North Americans communicate more directly than East Asian in general, they also communicate less indirectly at work, compared to outside work. In the present study, communicative indirectness in its two distinct components—interpretation and conveyance—is examined in Euro-Canadians and East Asian undergraduates (Study 1) and in bicultural Canadians of East-Asian heritage with interlocutors from Canadian and their own ethnic backgrounds across different contexts (Study 2). Potential moderators such as epistemic motives and lay beliefs about communication are explored.