Thursday 23 July 2015

expressions - "Excuse Me"... Is it polite or just a terse way to ask others to step aside?

Normally, "excuse me" is a polite alternative to "get out of my way". It is traditionally used when a person wants to get somewhere and others are unintentionally standing in the way.



Sure, if someone says it in a rude or demanding manner, then the politeness of the words may be "overridden" by the rudeness of the tone of voice. Likewise if the demand is clearly unreasonable -- like if everyone is trying to get to the same place and one person expects others to make way for him because he fancies he is more important than evereyone else.



Like, if you're at a party and you want to get to the food table, and someone who already has food is standing in your way chatting with a friend, it is completely acceptable to say, "Excuse me, I'm trying to get to the food table." It is generally considered rude to say, "Get out of my way" or "You're in my way". If everyone is trying to get to the food table, of course you should wait patiently in line, and not shout "Excuse me! Excuse me!" as you push your way to the front.



It is certainly true that if you say it in a rude or demanding tone of voice, then it ceases to be polite. But that is true of any polite phrase. If you say, "Thank you for your help" in a sarcastic voice, you change it from a polite phrase to an insult. If you say, "Please pass the salt" in a demanding manner, it ceases to be a polite phrase. Etc etc.

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