You know plinkplonk, you make some fine points there†. What would you feel about... | Hacker News

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		igravious on Dec 1, 2010 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Defecting by Accident - A Flaw Common to Analytica... You know plinkplonk, you make some fine points there†. What would you feel about the following - how about stating upfront your lack of intention to insult? "I'm not criticizing you personally but, yada yada yada" †this being and polite malarky is a cinch, wish I'd known sooner

thalur on Dec 1, 2010 | [–]

You have to be careful that what follows the "but" is not a personal criticisim. For example:

  "I don't mean to be rude, but you're an idiot"

is no less rude as a result of claiming not to be rude (though they /may/ not notice this and it might work).

StrawberryFrog on Dec 1, 2010 | [–]

that kind of phrase is called a "but-head" http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/11/14/...

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