The Difference Between ‘IMO’ and ‘IMHO’…

… is that ‘imho’ inevitably carries far more arrogance with it. When humility has to be claimed it is generally absent.

In a similar vein, there is ‘I don’t mean to interrupt but…’. Like, duh, if you don’t mean to interrupt—don’t.

Also, ‘With all due respect…’. That’s like a slap.

And, in the course of a TV discussion, calling another panelist an ‘azeez dost’. Dude, he may be ‘azeez’ if his name is Aziz, but there’s no fricking way that guy is a dost. You want him to die. You want to personally torture him using an iron maiden while blasting Himesh music into his eardrums.

A list of such casual semantic hypocrisies could no doubt fill an encyclopedia. And it’s apparent, even as we say what we do not mean, that we do not mean it. Then why say it?