Go back

What Grinds Our Gears: Saying “no offence” to soften the blow of an insult

OpinionsWhat Grinds Our Gears

Why adding “no offence” after offending someone is utterly useless

Opinions
Opinions
1 min.
0
2890
If you have to do damage control after a remark, chances are it may offend someone.  ILLUSTRATION: Carol Yip / The Peak

By: Tiffany Chang, Peak Associate

Lately, I’ve been getting better at taking criticism, especially when it’s constructive. I think this kind of honest feedback helps people grow.

However, criticism can often take a nasty or offensive turn. What drives me up the wall is when someone says “no offence” after mentioning something hurtful to their counterpart.

My question is this: why do people think saying “no offence” mitigates the offensiveness of their insults?

I find it astoundingly contradictory. It’s like trying to soak up a diarrhea accident with one toilet paper square. You know for certain it isn’t enough to clean up your disgusting mess, but you somehow think it’ll make a difference if an attempt is made.

“You suck! No offence.” “Your eyebrows look like they were plucked by a four-year-old with cheap tweezers. No offence.” “The colour of your nail polish makes me want to gouge my eyes out. No offence.”

How do people not see the uselessness of this saying? Without a doubt, it has the opposite effect of “not offending.” You already knew that what you were going to say seemed insulting. Adding snide comments makes it that much worse.

Long story short, trying to soften the blow of your insults will not garner any positive results whatsoever, so please stop.

Was this article helpful?
0
0

Leave a Reply

Block title

New immunotherapy treatment provides hope for aggressive cancer

News Peak Web -
By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are often recognized as the three most common forms of cancer treatment. Sometimes, the latter two approaches become no longer effective when cancers become drug resistant, allowing the cells to further spread. At the University of Calgary, however, promising developments in immunotherapy intervention seek to provide alternative treatment when common therapies are not viable.  Cells continually divide to replenish dying cells, but certain gene mutations can create cancer cells, which divide and spread in an uncontrolled manner. The human body naturally defends itself from cancerous cells, though sometimes they can “hide from the immune system and avoid being destroyed,” according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Immunotherapy seeks to help strengthen the ability to recognize and fight...

Read Next

Block title

New immunotherapy treatment provides hope for aggressive cancer

News Peak Web -
By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are often recognized as the three most common forms of cancer treatment. Sometimes, the latter two approaches become no longer effective when cancers become drug resistant, allowing the cells to further spread. At the University of Calgary, however, promising developments in immunotherapy intervention seek to provide alternative treatment when common therapies are not viable.  Cells continually divide to replenish dying cells, but certain gene mutations can create cancer cells, which divide and spread in an uncontrolled manner. The human body naturally defends itself from cancerous cells, though sometimes they can “hide from the immune system and avoid being destroyed,” according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Immunotherapy seeks to help strengthen the ability to recognize and fight...

Block title

New immunotherapy treatment provides hope for aggressive cancer

News Peak Web -
By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are often recognized as the three most common forms of cancer treatment. Sometimes, the latter two approaches become no longer effective when cancers become drug resistant, allowing the cells to further spread. At the University of Calgary, however, promising developments in immunotherapy intervention seek to provide alternative treatment when common therapies are not viable.  Cells continually divide to replenish dying cells, but certain gene mutations can create cancer cells, which divide and spread in an uncontrolled manner. The human body naturally defends itself from cancerous cells, though sometimes they can “hide from the immune system and avoid being destroyed,” according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Immunotherapy seeks to help strengthen the ability to recognize and fight...

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society