Anyone else get chewed out by their boss for just not getting the hint?

Sorry if this topic is stupid, I feel very stupid right now. I got transferred to a new department and I've had 2 or 3 clashes with the new boss about me not getting the hint. He finally gave me a metric, a number to get to. He spelled it out. I can do that, but I'm just freaking out that he's gonna fire me because I couldn't get the clue until today.