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Originally Posted by stepurhan
By contrast, "no offense", can only ever be used when someone has said something offensive. If you say something offensive by accident then apologise. If you know what you're saying is offensive up front then expect me to be offended despite your last minute weaseling.
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You seem to assume that "offensive" is an absolute. It's possible that I realize, on a purely intellectual level, that what I am going to say is likely to offend someone, without me actually intending to offend. Hence, I preface it with "no offense (meant)".
Of course, I agree that it gets often overused as a lame non-apology. As is "with all due respect". But it's hardly those phrases' fault.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo
The thing that bothers me about it is that it breaks the flow of a text. If you accidentally made a pun, drawing attention to it is hardly your best option
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Again, just because I made it accidentally (if I did) doesn't mean I don't want others to notice! On the contrary, I would think it's common sense that whoever says "no pun intended" doesn't actually try to hide the fact he made one.
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and if you really did intend it it's a lot classier to let it stand on its own merits, or lack thereof. A silly pun might bring a smile to those who notice, "no pun intended" only a groan.
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Well, you're entitled to your own opinion, but I don't think it ever made
me groan. It certainly did (indirectly) make me smile a couple of times when the accompanied pun would be otherwise hard to spot.
