A matter of interpretation

Someone says that they were told to 'go easy' as one story, while the response is that we said 'to singe not burn.' I really don't see the difference between the two. And don't see it as a matter of controversy. If I writing poetry or for a professional journal or something similar then accuracy would be really important. But in commenting on what one was asked to do the difference between being asked to take it easy and singe not burn is less than the distance between one eyelash and the next.