No Offense

I hate this phrase more than any other phrase in the world. This phrase isn't vulgar, it's not derogatory, there's no stereotypes or prejudice in it. It's two words that offend me more than anything else and here's why.

The phrase: No Offense.

I have found that if you are saying something that isn't offensive, then you will never need to say no offense. And if you are saying something offensive and you say this, it's the biggest cop out of all time. It's saying something hurtful but not owning up to it, stirring the pot without offering suggestion. This single phrase allows people to speak their mind and hurt others without taking responsibility for their words. You say something hurtful, mean, offensive. But, you say no offense at the end of the sentence. Now you're just stating something but you don't mean any harm by it, even if it's harmful. So you don't have to take responsibility for those words, in other words that person can't get upset with you for hurting them. Now what you've done here is hurt someone but remove yourself from the blame and put it squarely on that person. If they get upset they're being irrational because you clearly stated that there was no malice in you saying this. But that's not entirely true, this statement alone has let you wash the blood from your hands but you're still the culprit. You've done the damage but come off innocent and even the victim if confrontation arises afterwards because you cleared yourself by stating that you were offering up an observation or a fact, not an opinion, not an accusation - claiming nothing on yourself.

Now I have been struggling with a person who ALWAYS clears themselves of blame and states no offense all the time. They always end up looking like the good guy and that they don't do anything hurtful. Unfortunately that's not the case. This type of person is the biggest coward. They say what they want without having to deal with any repercussions. In my opinion they have no backbone, they have no character and they are basically weak.....No offense.


- XoXo Courtney