| In the UK people have one word for ‘yes’ and two words for ‘no’ (‘yes but’).
It's all part of the British 'softness at the edges'.
Disagreement, criticism and negative views in general tend to be expressed more politely than in say France or Germany. People are uncomfortable with personal disageements in meetings. In the filmclip 'To Be Honest', watch out for the body language of the young manager whose colleagues disagree with him.
Negative views are often introduced with expressions like ‘with respect’, ‘to be honest’, ‘to be blunt’. The man who is shown a house which is obviously not suitable says it is ‘a bit of a waste of time’ when really he means a complete waste of time. |
