No Offense, but…
I confess: when people start their sentences to me with “No offense, but..”, I immediately take offense. In fact, I take more offense than if I wasn’t given the little disclaimer.
For the party giving the disclaimer, who we shall refer to as “the offender”, the perspective is much different. It seems that the two magic words “no offense” immediately frees them from any liability that may result from the deliverance of the offensive statement, so to speak.
From as subtle as:
“No offense, but I think you should sit out this game.”
to as crude as:
“No offense, but your artwork is terrible!”
Well, the statements certainly send the message across; you’re a liability to the team and your artwork sucks. Now let’s remove the disclaimers:
“I think you should sit out this game.”
“Your artwork is terrible!”
Who delivers the more devastating blow: the cocky offender, or the honest one?
Sometimes, the disclaimer is appended after the offender’s statement instead:
“I think you should sit out this game… no offense.”
“Your artwork is terrible!” — “..no offense by the way.”
It’s as if the offender regretted speaking out so harshly, and slapped on the “no offense” to justify their remark.
Let’s face it, the “no offense” disclaimer is offensive at best… no pun intended?
