Language and politeness overlap. Some languages are so formally open that they reveal their specific nature only in the effort to be a good conversational guest. And most languages are comprehensible even if spoken brutally, or brokenly, which are the same except in intent. And by politely I do not mean formally, as the starchy tone of many of the worst internet comments make clear.
Speakers who turn quickly to profanity, or offense, wire themselves into toggle switches when they'd do better on a rheostat. (Of course it is no good to mistake politeness for being permanently set to slight, or dim, or barely.)
Monday, March 16, 2015
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