It can also be cultural differences too, Don. Eg, we Brits often come across as "rude" to Americans because we tend to be a lot "blunter" in our speech. Eg, in the UK if you want to say "Fred has died", then that's what you say. I've noticed that no American will
ever say that - it's "Fred has passed away", "we've lost Fred", or any one of half a dozen other euphemisms. It's as if there's a "cultural taboo" about using the word "died".
Of course, some people just
are plain rude; there's no denying that
.