I have been thinking a good deal about language in the professional realm. I may be posting soon, too. This is very interesting to me. My therapist always says "Quit helping me out" in a teasing way when I am tensing or not relaxing, and that always makes me laugh. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it. But yeah, if someone said "You're guarding" to me, I'd be like "Whu? Huh?" and be defensive.

Words can come across so very differently than how you intend.