The respondents used terms such as these an average of 14 times a day. The roster of so-called "politeisms" in the research is "a treasure trove of British evasion.
"No rush, when you get a chance," used by 39% of the population says: "Get on with it, I've been waiting an unreasonably long time already."
And my particular favourite is "With all due respect…" which means "your opinion is invalid, and here's why." (Actually I think people KNOW this term is really an insult).
And, "Not to worry", is really a relaxed way of saying: "This is a catastrophe, but I'll tell you it's okay."
Why do we do this? "....
Wouldn't we simply be happier just telling each other what we really mean, and omitting all the misunderstanding and time-wasting?
But giving up on the courteous rebuff would be a travesty, it's is an ancient and respectable British tradition: the poll found that some phrases go all the way back to Chaucer!
And at the end of the day these politisms maybe do make our life easier because they are just less acerbic than the naked truth!
