Concerning Chronicler's answer to: How is the road to Tinue?

In book 1, there is the following section.

The innkeeper held up a hand, quieting him. “Before we discuss the possibility that you’ve addled your wits with that crack to the head, tell me, how is the road to Tinuë?”

“What?” Chronicler asked, irritated. “I wasn’t heading to Tinuë. I was…oh. Well even aside from last night, the road’s been pretty rough. I was robbed off by Abbot’s Ford, and I’ve been on foot ever since. But it was all worth it since you’re actually here.”

And later on, we also get this here:

People are always asking me about the road to Tinuë. Endlessly they say, ‘how is the road to Tinuë?’ What does it mean?”

I smiled. “It’s an idiomatic piece of the language. That means—”

“I know what an idiom is,” Wilem interrupted. “What does this one mean?”

“Oh,” I said, slightly embarrassed. “It’s just a greeting. It’s kind of like asking ‘how is your day?’ or ‘how is everything going?’”

From the second section, we learn that the question "How is the road to Tinue?" is frequently asked. And people also seem to know what it means, or they wouldn't be asking.

So how is it possible that Chronicler, who travels around so much and also visited the university, doesn't know about that phrase? Or at least not enough to answer the question behind it? That doesn't make sense to me.

Is it just a coincidence that he doesn't know the phrase that Wilem gets asked endlessly? Or did his brain stop working there? Or could there be more behind it?

Does anyone have an idea? Thank you.