Quote:
Originally Posted by Los Feliz Slim
This is more rhetoric than grammar, but it really bothers me when people preface a statement with "I guess" in order to distance themselves from responsibility for the content of the statement or the facts of the situation.
"I guess so-and-so is pretty upset about that email you sent."
You guessed that? On your own? If so-and-so is upset about the email just ****ing tell me they're upset.
It tilts me ever day in law school that whenever a dumb person is on call they preface every answer with "maybe" or phrases their answer as a question.
Professor: "So, why did the plaintiff win at trial?
Idiot: "Was it because the defendant didn't pay for the things he had bought?"
IT'S A POSSIBILITY, I WILL GRANT YOU THAT. The problem with disclaimers like that is while it makes you look self-aware if you're wrong, it makes you look dumb if you're right, and makes you look really dumb when it's a concrete non-maybe sort of question.