C182 pilot reported he was unable to understand the ground controllers instructions and caused a ground conflict.

Narrative

I was taxiing Aircraft X for takeoff on a short sightseeing flight from ZZZ; locally. The weather was VFR but forecast to close-in; possibly in next hour so I planed a very short; local sightseeing flight. Noticed possible thunderstorms about 30 miles to west over Gulf of Mexico. I had two passengers who had never flown before in a light aircraft. The lady was in the right seat; excited and talkative. It was her birthday. Her husband was in the back seat; noticeably uncomfortable and afraid. I turned to re-assure him twice. I was concerned about his discomfort; trying to make everything happen as smoothly as possible.I listened to ATIS - departure was Runway XX. I taxied to intersection of the main ramp and [Taxiway] XX intersection for XY Taxiway and stopped on the ramp to call Ground for clearance to Runway XX; ready for a simple clearance onto XY Taxiway; to intersection of XY and XZ Taxiway; then to cross Runway XY at Alpha and proceed to run-up at departure end of Runway XX - the same simple instructions I'd heard 50 times before. The taxi traffic was extremely light. I saw a business jet cross from the ramp onto Taxiway XX ahead of me. Before calling Ground Control; I heard the controller talking in a sharp and agitated way to a taxiing Aircraft Y who was on the NE side of the airport; not visible to me. The controller seemed particularly stressed. I believe the Aircraft Y was at the far eastward end of the XX taxiway; having difficulty following instructions for taxi to the departure end of [Runway] XX. I called ZZZ Ground. Said I was at [Taxiway] XX with ATIS; Southbound. The controller gave me an instruction I'd never heard before that I felt was a non-standard phrasing and ambiguous: He said to proceed to 'the Corner.' I was at the corner - at [Taxiway] XX and XY as always; right in front of the tower. I thought he wanted me to move closer to the corner of the ramp and taxiway; possibly to let a business jet taxi in front of me. I recall that I was confused by his instruction and hesitated to read back a correct instruction. Again; he seemed already exasperated; and told me to taxi to [Taxiway] XZ XY and then cross [Runway] XY at [intersection XZ]. Because Aircraft Y was nowhere to be seen - I think half a mile east of me on the airfield; my recollection was that I was cleared to proceed and that the slow and confused Aircraft Y was to follow me. I read back the clearance that I thought I'd heard and proceeded at normal taxi speed the short distance to [Taxiway] XY/XZ intersection; then on to departure end of Runway XX. The controller did not tell me to hold or stop; I heard him tell Aircraft Y to follow me: 'the Cessna that just cut you off.'Again; Aircraft Y was nowhere to be seen and this surprised me. The controller then told me in an agitated voice to call the tower when I landed; for possible Surface Violation. I couldn't believe it. It un-nerved me enough to almost request an 180 and to cancel the flight; but I didn't want to upset or disappoint my two passengers. I had always done everything to comply with ATC instructions to the best of my ability in the past; and everything in my power to operate as safely as possible.My mistake was not to stop and request the Controller to restate his clearance from the beginning; when he gave me the ambiguous instruction to 'go to the corner.' And since there was a slight distraction in the airplane from the fearful passenger; and my desire not to make him any more upset; I didn't ask the controller to repeat; so as not sound confused and have the controller to speak sharply to me as he had to the confused Aircraft Y. Aircraft Y was so far from me on the field; what I heard was that the controller wanted him to follow me. Instead; apparently; the controller wanted me to follow him. We took off without any incident; we shortened the flight to just about 20 minutes because indeed the bad weather was coming in fast; landed and returned to the hangar without incident. My passengers had a fantastic time. But I was upset. I decided to drive over to the tower and speak with the controller in person. I'd visited the tower cab on several occasions; even brought them Pizza a couple of times in appreciation of the wonderful job they do. They are undermanned and always dealing with students of all nationalities who often hardly speak English. I got to the tower gate and requested a visit to speak with the Ground Controller. Instead; he just got on the phone. He was much more relaxed. I explained that I had been confused about the instructions to proceed to 'the corner;' had nervous fliers in the airplane; but that it was my mistake for not immediately asking for a repeat. I would never willfully disobey a controller's instruction. He was friendly as well; said he was not going to write anything up. But since I had gotten one instruction wrong (proceeding to the wrong corner); he decided to have me wait to follow Aircraft Y that was a half a mile away from the other side of the airfield. I talked to a CFI friend who said that the 'Corner' probably referred to the corner of the Ramp-- but that indeed the instruction was non-standard and confusing. My take-away is that even though I'd gotten the exact same instructions for Ground Control to follow the simple route from [Taxiway] XX to Runway XX; and though I don't recall seeing any one in front of me or near me that was a collision hazard; I should have made no assumptions. And should have immediately told the controller that I needed him to 'say again.' I should also go back to writing down taxi instructions to avoid mistakes in read- back. I also think the controller was in an agitated mood and over-reacted by threatening me with a 'Surface violation' under the circumstances. This is my best recollection of the situation that day at ZZZ.