No Disrespect
by Scott Hardie on July 23, 2019
One of my pet peeves is people saying, "Have you ever noticed that the phrase 'no disrespect' is immediately followed by something disrespectful?"
Well, YEAH. That's the point of the phrase. It's intended to provide context, so that you don't take the next statement as a deliberate insult. If I said, "you should see your barber for a refund," it would sound like an insult about an ugly haircut. But if I said, "I don't mean any disrespect, but you should see your barber for a refund," it would sound like constructive advice about how to handle bad service.
Do the people acting clever by pointing this out think that the phrase is supposed to be followed by a nice statement? "No disrespect, but you look terrific today" would sound incongruously weird, like someone was sarcastically suggesting that you look bad. You'd puzzle over it for a moment, not sure what to think.
Pointing out that "no disrespect" is followed by something disrespectful is just so oblivious as to purpose. It's like pointing out, "Have you ever noticed that people opening their umbrellas is followed by heavy rainfall starting?" What did you think the point was?
Besides that, the joke is a cliché by now. I've heard it at least a half-dozen times. That's why I was doubly disappointed to hear it come up on the new season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Two longtime professional comics should not produce such a lazy, pointless, and hackneyed joke.
One Reply to No Disrespect
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Gingerbread Office
I don't often join in Kelly's craft projects, and it's even rarer for her to join in one of mine. But that's what happened last week when my company held a gingerbread house contest, and Kelly pitched in to help the team that I signed up for. We decided to make a "north pole branch" of our Sarasota office. Go »Fuzzy Logic
Headline: Britney Spears goes bald. I'm her publicist. My client has an album coming out soon. Go »The News is Scary
Sixth-grader admits stabbing ducks with pencil. Does anyone else read this and think, this kid will grow up to be Jeffrey Dahmer? Vegan parents guilty of murder. Go »Even When I Was a Child, I Was Hated by Skeletons
We watched The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra again last night. If you haven't seen it, and you have a place in your heart for a pretty good spoof of campy D-grade sci-fi movies from the 1950s, rent it. A few people have been turned off by its slow pace, but I have yet to watch it with someone who hasn't at least found a few things to chuckle at. Go »Scary Mary
New horror film? Thanks, Jon. Go »
Aaron Shurtleff | July 24, 2019
I'm not racist, but...