How the customer explained it. The customer usually has no clue what he really needs. He thinks he does, but he can also think of extra features he’ll never use. He’ll demand them up front, because he’s afraid he won’t get them added later.
How the project leader understood it. The guy in charge of the project usually gets some critical detail wrong. It’s often wrong in a way that makes it useless, but it snowballs from there into comedy.