Words Poorly Used #54 — The Implied “Too”

Have you ever noticed how people can turn a neutral descriptor such as “didactic” into a negative?  With tone of voice, facial expression, or body language, one can say “he is didactic” with the implication that he is [too] didactic.  Sometimes the effect is aided by adding a vague placeholder adverbial phrase such as “he is a bit didactic.”  A glancing blow.  But you will never hear a frank evaluation such as “she is too didactic, as seen in documented events A, B, C, … ”  Please note that this post is not about didacticism; it is about weasel speech.

Kilgore