The article analyses speech varieties among Uzbek migrants in Tashkent city in Uzbekistan to shed light on inter-ethnic contact. I do this through discussing various rhetorical strategies and linguistic means employed during the identification processes. 'We-codes' and 'They-codes' as well as the analysis of intent and 'perceived intent' are the centre of the theoretical argument of the article. It is important to consider communication and miscommunication when studying inter-ethnic relations and collective identities. I argue that it is necessary to distinguish between intent and what I call 'perceived intent' when analysing miscommunication. The data used for the article is drawn from the ethnography of communication among Khorezmians and other Uzbek groups in the capital city of Tashkent in Uzbekistan. Theoretically, the article contributes to the recent scholarly debate on language and identity pioneered by Gumperz, Hymes, Giles and Fishman among others.