From a Rebecca Writes blog post, Phrases That Should Never Cross Your Lips
Wednesday, November 9 [/] Phrases That Should Never Cross Your Lips
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but.... Have you ever heard this phrase when it wasn't a lie? Similar to another obnoxious phrase, "I don't mean to brag...."
No offense, but.... The problem with this phrase is that it's almost always followed by something that means "You're fat!", or "You're dumb!", or "That roast would have been much better if you'd cooked it for 7 hours less." No one ever says, "No offense, but that supper was the tastiest I've had in years!"
Don't take this the wrong way. If you need to use this phrase, there's only one way for anyone to take what you're about to say--and that's the wrong way.
I'm saying this in Christian love. Carla adds this one for us, and says sometimes it's used when "what's being said seems about as love-motivated as a baseball bat to the forehead." She has a way with words, doesn't she?
I'm sorry, but.... Kim from ON says, "If you're saying sorry, say sorry. Adding the 'but' may mean you're not really sorry." I agree. The "but" is usually followed by an excuse of some sort or another, and what's really been said is "I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault."
I just thought you should know. Kim from IL adds this lovely one, which can sometimes be used to introduce some helpful tidbit of information, but often is followed "by the person sharing something that even if you HAD known you couldn't've done anything about it, and even knowing it now, there is no way you can 'fix' it."
But I believe that.... Shaun says he hears this one is used by pastors when "But God says that" would be better. Yep, that the pastor believes it doesn't really settle things, does it? That God said it ought to.
With all due respect.... Honest Brian in Fresno admits to using this one when he's really meant just the opposite. It's often used that way--when it really means, "I don't consider you to be due much respect"--isn't it?
Got more?
posted by rebecca at 11/09/2005 08:29:00 PM [Emphasis in original.]
Description of quoted blog: " Rebecca Writes […] from the not-quite-frozen north about the things that interest her most: her family, her life in the Yukon, and matters of faith and theology."
