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haertig · 08-08-2019, 05:23 PM

I often times preface a technical suggestion to someone who appears non-technical with "no offense intended". There are many things that are obvious to someone with the technical knowledge needed to understand an issue, but completely foreign to those who don't have the required experience or training. When you suggest something that is obvious, some people will take offense at that. Others are exceedingly glad that you did not assume they knew something that they didn't, and provided them the solution.

You run into the above case a lot on computer forums, say, one for the Linux operating system. I am on those forums as well, and you do your best to determine if the person you are replying too is a guru or a newbie, and tailor your response so as to help, but not offend - depending on if you misjudged the guru vs. newbie thing. It's not always easy to tell what experience level you are talking to. This is less of an issue on other basically non-technical forums, MobileRead for example.

So it depends on context - "no offense intended" can indeed be used in a nice and friendly manner. I see it used in this manner frequently, and do so myself. But as you pointed out, the phrase can be also used in a condescending manner in different circumstances.

I take no sides in judging the motivation behind the phrase in the particular instance being discussed in this thread. I am just pointing out that what you presented as an undeniable fact regarding usage, is not.

08-08-2019, 05:23 PM	#76
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,925 Karma: 33156336 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Galaxy Tab A9+, Moto G7	I often times preface a technical suggestion to someone who appears non-technical with "no offense intended". There are many things that are obvious to someone with the technical knowledge needed to understand an issue, but completely foreign to those who don't have the required experience or training. When you suggest something that is obvious, some people will take offense at that. Others are exceedingly glad that you did not assume they knew something that they didn't, and provided them the solution. You run into the above case a lot on computer forums, say, one for the Linux operating system. I am on those forums as well, and you do your best to determine if the person you are replying too is a guru or a newbie, and tailor your response so as to help, but not offend - depending on if you misjudged the guru vs. newbie thing. It's not always easy to tell what experience level you are talking to. This is less of an issue on other basically non-technical forums, MobileRead for example. So it depends on context - "no offense intended" can indeed be used in a nice and friendly manner. I see it used in this manner frequently, and do so myself. But as you pointed out, the phrase can be also used in a condescending manner in different circumstances. I take no sides in judging the motivation behind the phrase in the particular instance being discussed in this thread. I am just pointing out that what you presented as an undeniable fact regarding usage, is not.