"That motion to your head, Clatclit. You mean I'm the head of something, the investigation, for instance?"
Negative.
"I'm intelligent?"
A pause, then the yes-no motion.
"You mean I am, but that's the wrong answer. Hmmm. Very tactful of you, Clatclit. You could have given me a no on that one."
Clatclit showed a friendly array of deadly-looking teeth. I interpreted this as an evidence of camaraderie, so I just grinned back.
"Okay, Clatclit. Let's see. It has nothing to do with my brain power?"
A wild light came into his eyes, and he seemed ready to crack out of his glittering pelt, so agitated did he become. Apparently, I'd hit on something, but he didn't know what sort of signal to make.
"I'm getting warm?" I said.
Clatclit stared, and I realized that, even knowing and understanding colloquial English, he might still have missed a few of the slangier expressions.