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What does it mean when someone says in a debate "with all due respect, if there is any due" and would it be considered a little disrespectful or very disrespectful? Also these days is the phrase "with due respect" used as a respectful way to disagree or a subtle disrespect?

Laurel
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Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
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    "With due respect if there is any due" is a new one on me. But I can think of plenty of people on whom I'd feel tempted to use it. – WS2 Jan 09 '19 at 19:17
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    Tacking on "if there is any due" is definitely being disrespectful. – Hellion Jan 09 '19 at 19:29
  • Reminds me of Yes, Minister and, I think, Bernard's clarification to the minister that, from Sir Humphrey Appleby, "with respect" means "without respect". I always liked "With all due respect," which is entirely honest and a little more subtle... (edit) which I see now OP mentions. – tmgr Jan 09 '19 at 19:30
  • Related, possible duplicate: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/389052/is-with-all-due-respect-now-mainly-used-as-a-sarcastic-expression – user 66974 Jan 09 '19 at 19:45
  • out of context, it could be subject to opinion as to its tone. – lbf Jan 09 '19 at 21:11
  • Regardless of disrespect, it’s borderline ungrammatical to me with the existential there construction and the extrapositioned subject. “… if any is due” is perfectly normal and unremarkable to me, but the version given here sounds very odd to me. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jan 09 '19 at 23:02

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That's very disrespectful.

The basic idiom here is "with all due respect." It is a polite tag that precedes some kind of disagreement. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the expression has been around since the 17th century. It is often preceded or followed by someone's name, formal title, and/or praise, as with this example from CBS News:

With all due respect to the immense talents of WWE champion Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles, with Royal Rumble just a few weeks away now, the featured title on the SmackDown Live brand is unquestionably the SmackDown women's championship.

The phrase can be used sincerely or sarcastically, and I've encountered it regularly with either meaning. In any case, it acts as an indicator of politeness.

In your debate, someone has effectively short-circuited the idiom by raising the question of whether any respect is due. Rhetorically, it is a personal attack, suggesting that you don't have the ethos or standing to garner respect. It is a rude and clumsy rhetorical move.

TaliesinMerlin
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We used to use the phrase “with all due respect” in HM Forces when as an SNCO, we knew a junior Commissioned Officer was giving, or about to give, an order (or instruction) that was wrong - or just plain illegal. It’s implication was “ if you insist, Sir - but you could be certifiable ( mentally)...” !

D N-W
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  • Hello, D N-W, welcome to ELU! – Conrado Jul 27 '20 at 16:28
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    An interesting 'comment', D N-W, but not an 'answer' as required on ELU. OP asks about the extended version only. And we've all been in the 'need more 'rep' to be allowed to comment' situation. ELU's worse than the Forces. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 27 '20 at 16:28