Criticise POLITELY without being RUDE Polite English Criticism Phrases
hello everyone and welcome back to
english with lucy today we are going to
talk about alternatives for one of the
most hated phrases in the English
language no offence is there a more
offensive phrase than no offense when
somebody says no offense but you know
they’re going to follow that with
something offensive it’s just the way
people are so I have 11 alternatives for
you that you can use to give criticism
per lightly so this video is perfect for
improving your vocabulary but if you
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and your pronunciation skills even
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inaudible reading alone will not help
you with your pronunciation the way a
word is spelt in English doesn’t
necessarily give you much information as
to how it’s pronounced in English if you
listen to a word as you read it your
brain will start making connections and
the next time you see that word written
down you’ll know exactly how to say it
how it’s meant to sound the
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that word you’ll know exactly how it
should be spelt you’re combining two
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right number one is with respect
or with all due respect with all due
respect that’s slightly more formal this
is something you can add before you are
going to say something that could
potentially cause offence you’re showing
the listener that you’re not trying to
be disrespectful you’re saying it in a
respectful way an example with all due
respect I really don’t think it’s
appropriate to wear a white dress as a
wedding guest is this a thing in your
country and culture I know not all
cultures have white wedding dresses we
do here in the UK and it is extremely it
found upon to wear white to someone’s
wedding and I went to a wedding last
summer and there was a woman in a long
white dress and I was appalled I tell
you did I say anything about it to her
no I didn’t because I’m British did I
silently judge her of course I did
because I’m British number two is I’m
going to be very honest with you or I’m
gonna be honest with you if you want to
be a bit more informal and speak using
slang terms like Gunnar
this is something you can say again
before you say something that could be
offensive you are preparing the listener
for the criticism that is going to come
next an example I’m going to be very
honest with you I wasn’t happy with how
you behaved in my party now this is said
in all english-speaking countries but
especially in Britain because we do have
a habit of not being honest the example
I gave before of how I didn’t tell the
woman that she shouldn’t have worn white
well that’s pretty common behavior we
don’t necessarily say things we like to
avoid confrontation so for us if we are
going to confront someone it’s a big
deal and we need to prepare them I’m
going to be honest with you that brings
me on to my next one number three let’s
be frank let’s be frank to be frank is
to be honest and direct if somebody is a
frank person and they are very to the
point
this means pretty much the same thing
but it kind of opens the opportunity to
have an honest conversation let’s be
honest with one another
have an honest conversation it’s not me
saying I’m going to be honest with you
it’s saying let’s be frank let’s be
honest with each other
an example let’s be frank you haven’t
excelled in your exams this year number
four is a very very common one and it’s
actually considered more slang in the UK
it’s actually a phrase that I think a
lot of people might think is overused or
becoming overused it is I’m not going to
lie well now just shorten down to not
gonna lie not gonna lie and it’s there
you say it before you’re about to
criticize someone or something or maybe
when you’re going to give a really
honest negative opinion about someone
not gonna lie your singing wasn’t great
not gonna lie her top was the ugliest
top I’ve ever seen in my life
my god that’s so so mean but it’s one
that is thrown around a lot it is used a
lot and it can be very confusing because
you might think well of course you
shouldn’t lie why would you lie it’s
just a phrase now number five sometimes
you do just want to say no offense but
but we can say it in a much more formal
way we could say I don’t mean to offend
but or I don’t mean to offend you but
this sounds a little bit nicer sometimes
you just can’t escape using no offense
we can also say without meaning to
offend you or without meaning to offend
an example without meaning to offend you
your work hasn’t been up to scratch
recently up to scratch means up to the
standard number 6 is another slang one
it’s very commonly used it’s don’t get
me wrong don’t get me wrong and we’re
using get here as in receive I’ve got a
video all about the many uses of get
there are a lot I warn you but we’re
saying don’t receive me in the wrong way
don’t interpret
saying in the wrong way it basically
means don’t misunderstand me an example
don’t get me wrong but I think we need
to have a chat about the incident you
wouldn’t really use this in a formal
situation this is more between friends
and acquaintances number seven is a nice
phrase that you can say instead of I’ve
been watching you and I’ve seen that
you’ve done something wrong if you want
to of course express that you have been
watching someone and they have been
doing something wrong you can say I’ve
noticed that I’ve noticed that this is
something that said a lot in offices
I’ve noticed that you’ve been spending a
lot of time by the water cooler or I’ve
noticed that you aren’t always reaching
your deadlines it’s a nice way of saying
I’ve been observing you and you’re not
doing anything right number eight a way
of saying you’re doing lots of things
wrong and you’re really not performing
as you should you could say there’s room
for improvement there’s room for
improvement you’re doing okay but
there’s still a little room for
improvement an example I appreciate how
hard you’ve worked but there still is
room for improvement here now number
nine is using a conditional to express
criticism it is this lovely phrase if
you can learn it and use it as a set
phrase that’s fantastic if I were you I
would and then the advice what you would
do instead of saying you should do this
which people don’t necessarily like if I
were you I would do it this way
oh people love that an example if I were
you I would look at implementing a
different strategy translates roughly as
change your strategy number ten what
about a nice rhetorical question to set
off some criticism I love them if you
want to give someone some constructive
criticism you could say believe it or
not could I offer you a bit of
constructive criticism they can’t
exactly say no can they especially if
you’re their boss an example can I offer
you a little constructive criticism try
using a spellchecker
of
handing in your assignment now number 11
is something that we actually add to the
end of sentences to emphasize them a
little bit in English especially in
British English we have the habit a huge
habit of reducing everything trying to
make things seem not quite as important
or profound as they actually are for
example if you gave me the most
disgusting cup of tea ever I would say
oh well it’s not the worst he I’ve ever
had or oh yes I think I could get used
to it it’s a real issue and we often use
this technique whilst delivering
criticism but if you decide that you
actually do want the receiver of the
criticism to realize how badly they’ve
performed you can add to say the least
onto the end I think you could have done
better to say the least or to put it
mildly you don’t smell great to put it
mildly both of these are used to suggest
that something is far worse or more
extreme than you are saying it does make
the English language quite complex
because we don’t actually say what we
mean but don’t shoot the messenger I’m
just trying to help an example you
behaved inappropriately at the staff
party to say the least
and number 12 this one is used in the
middle of a criticising sentence and
this one actually is quite different to
the previous one this one is used to
make a statement or criticism appear
less severe or offensive it is shall we
say shall we say an example your report
was shall we say a little lacking it’s
almost like how do I put this how can I
choose a non offensive term to describe
the monstrosity with which I have been
presented your report was shall we say a
little lacking or your reaction was
shall we say a little over-the-top
meaning your reaction was completely and
utterly over-the-top
right that’s it for today’s lesson how
to say offensive things and give
criticism without causing offence in a
polite or at least British manner don’t
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