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all due respect

all due respect

91 5.8
Words people say before disagreeing to show respect
  • idiom
  • Formal
translation icon : con todo respeto
  • I appreciate your opinion, but with all due respect, I have to disagree.
  • all due respect, sir
  • all due respect, Mr.
  • said, 'With all due respect'

No, I get it, but with all due respect, that's not relevant.

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Examples

  • With all due respect, sir, I'd like clarification.

  • Jackie, with all due respect, I didn't come here to hurt you.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • But with all due respect, on top of that, you took the actions, man.

  • You took our personal experience and situation and with all due respect, made it about you.

  • With all due respect, is this going somewhere?

  • With all due respect, I think we're on the right track.

  • TOM: Excuse me, with all due respect, but this is her decision, not yours.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • With all due respect, sir, next time you make a major policy departure, you might want to discuss it with your national security advisor first.

  • Mother: With all due respect, sir, perhaps one should not assume that the Indians are violent.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Look, with all due respect, sir, when you get involved, there tends to be a lot of breakage.

Synonyms

respectfully
vsall due respect
101 2.3

In a polite way to someone

is used specifically to introduce polite disagreement or criticism

Antonyms

to insult
  • Offensive
543 2.1

To say or do something rude to someone

133 3.4

Rude behavior or words that show a lack of respect for someone

How Respectful

respectful
150 1.1
all due respect
  • Formal
91 5.8
polite
329 1.0
critical
210 3.8
disrespectful
121 3.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

all + due + respect

The phrase literally composes as 'all' + 'due' + 'respect' → roughly 'all appropriate respect', so a learner who knows the words can infer it relates to showing respect. However, its conventional pragmatic function as a hedging formula used to politely disagree or cushion criticism is a discourse-level, formulaic use that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone.

Etymology

All due respect comes from formal speech where due means 'owed' and respect is the polite feeling you give someone. People say it before they 'disagree' or 'criticize' to show they do not mean to be rude, so it signals a polite disagreement.