Narrative:

We had just pushed off of the gate at ZZZ and were #2 in the alley for taxi out. It was a typical high traffic day at ZZZ; with one radio call following another too quickly to call for taxi. Eventually; the aircraft in front of us in the alley got clearance to taxi to [runway] xxl via [taxiway] xx; to hold short of [taxiway] XX10; since there was a very long line on [taxiway] xy waiting for takeoff. Immediately after that (without even having a chance for us to call) we were cleared with our full call sign to 'taxi up to and hold short of [taxiway] xy' and I repeated this clearance with our call sign. This didn't really make sense to either of us in view of the long line; so the captain held short of [taxiway] xy on [taxiway] XX7 but at a 45 degree angle with sufficient room to turn down [taxiway] xx if needed. There was absolutely no radio silence available to ask for clarification; so we waited there for further guidance. A minute or so later; ground said '(company); I need you to pull up right to and hold short of [taxiway] xy so that I can taxi aircraft behind you; I don't care if you block the service road (which is between [taxiway] xy and [taxiway] xx).' note that they only said '(company)' and not a full call sign and we inferred it was us from the previous recent clearance. I replied with our full call sign and 'pull up to and hold short of [taxiway] xy.' we pulled up into [taxiway] XX7 and waited a few minutes while several aircraft passed; but stayed on ground frequency. Eventually; aircraft Y was coming down [taxiway] xy and it seemed that their wingtip would eventually impact our aircraft; so we jumped in on ground to say 'aircraft Y needs to stop or they will hit us!' aircraft Y did not stop; but moved to the left side of [taxiway] xy for clearance; which was minimal (they were apparently on tower frequency). However; ground then asked who we were and seemed to finally realize where we were; and in a very agitated voice said 'you need to switch to tower! You are completely in the way and you have completely messed up the sequence!' I said 'well; we were just following instructions; sir.' and we switched to tower who worked us in without further incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported a ground conflict and problems communicating with ATC about their taxi instructions.

Narrative: We had just pushed off of the gate at ZZZ and were #2 in the alley for taxi out. It was a typical high traffic day at ZZZ; with one radio call following another too quickly to call for taxi. Eventually; the aircraft in front of us in the alley got clearance to taxi to [Runway] XXL via [Taxiway] XX; to hold short of [Taxiway] XX10; since there was a very long line on [Taxiway] XY waiting for takeoff. Immediately after that (without even having a chance for us to call) we were cleared with our full call sign to 'taxi up to and hold short of [Taxiway] XY' and I repeated this clearance with our call sign. This didn't really make sense to either of us in view of the long line; so the Captain held short of [Taxiway] XY on [Taxiway] XX7 but at a 45 degree angle with sufficient room to turn down [Taxiway] XX if needed. There was absolutely no radio silence available to ask for clarification; so we waited there for further guidance. A minute or so later; Ground said '(Company); I need you to pull up right to and hold short of [Taxiway] XY so that I can taxi aircraft behind you; I don't care if you block the service road (which is between [Taxiway] XY and [Taxiway] XX).' Note that they only said '(Company)' and not a full call sign and we inferred it was us from the previous recent clearance. I replied with our full call sign and 'pull up to and hold short of [Taxiway] XY.' We pulled up into [Taxiway] XX7 and waited a few minutes while several aircraft passed; but stayed on Ground frequency. Eventually; Aircraft Y was coming down [Taxiway] XY and it seemed that their wingtip would eventually impact our aircraft; so we jumped in on Ground to say 'Aircraft Y needs to stop or they will hit us!' Aircraft Y did not stop; but moved to the left side of [Taxiway] XY for clearance; which was minimal (they were apparently on Tower frequency). However; Ground then asked who we were and seemed to finally realize where we were; and in a very agitated voice said 'you need to switch to Tower! You are completely in the way and you have completely messed up the sequence!' I said 'well; we were just following instructions; sir.' And we switched to Tower who worked us in without further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.