Phrases like "I guess"

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I always get thrown off when instead of saying yes, people say "I guess"...does it mean affirmative?(as in the question "Do you want to go get lunch?" "I guess"...or that they don't really care one way or the other? Everytime it throws me off.
Flakey sez "I guess" means affirmative and "I guess not" means negtive...But it drives me nuts every time. If I say "I guess" instead of yes, it means it is not what I would most like to do, but I will take it if there is no other option...So I assume that is what it means when other people use it.
If I say "I guess" I will present another option if I can think of one...but instead of saying yes, he always says "I guess"...So I bet he does it because he is amused by the way it always throws me off.

Another phrase that throws me off is "What do you think about that?"
If I am not thinking about whatever it is, I will say..."I'm not thinking about it"
Flakey says that in answer to that I should think of something else to say like..."Oh gee. that's interesting" But if I don't find it interesting and I am not thinking about it....then I will say so.

With 'I guess' I think a lot of people use it for 'yes.' Most of the time when I use it it means I'm not sure, but closer to yes. Like when I've said 'I guess you're right' that usually means I'm reluctantly giving in and letting them think they're right. But I don't necessarily really agree lol.

i can't react to that 'i guess' matter, i am not a native speaker, and don't live in country of native speakers, so people don't use 'i guess' often. but i, too, have problem with the question, 'what do you think about it?' i just don't think about things unless it is good for something to have my own opinion or the thing is interesting for me. it's always hard question for me.

I never used to say 'I guess' at all until about a year ago when I tried to work out more what people meant so I could understand them properly.

'I guess' leans towards the positive, but the person doesn't want to be held responsible if the contrary is found to be true. They're distancing themselves by offering nothing overly solid.

I use it when I am not sure of something, if I say "I guess it does" is because I am not absolutely certain about it, I feel uncomfortable of assuring something when I am not absolutly certain. I also use "I think", which I 'believe' is more correctly to use. I also use "I believe" when the possiblity is greater, but still not certain.

But, it seems to me that is also used when you don't care, like: "Can I get this thing? "I guess"

My wife ends sentences with a rhetorical "... you know?" and it always throws me for a loop. I usually want to say "I don't know" or "Why are you asking if you think I know?". That annoys her, so most often I just respond with an affirmative and change the subject.

I often say non-commital stuff like maybe or possibly, just because I don't want to get pinned down to something that isn't well thought out yet. Why does everyone want to know right now? I just found out about this and you want a good answer?

Pretty much the way I use it... or "I suppose," etc. I'm not 100% jumping-for-joy for it, but I'm greater than 50% for it, so lets do it, I suppose.

"I guess you're right", haha, now I know when to use it next time

when I say that, is always because I think that person might be right but I am not sure

It can be used that way too, and I also use it that way. Though usually I'll say "I dunno." (Which used to drive my ex nuts, when she'd want a yes or no from me and I'd say I guess or I dunno...)

My biggest problem with "I guess" is the word guess. I just don't like guessing as my guesses are usually wrong

Only Sith and Aspies deal in absolutes.

I say "I guess" a lot. For me it means I will do it or want it, but not very much. It's like I don't really want to do it, but I'll do it anyway.