Common phrases that mean different things to men and women

Say the phrase “with all due respect” to a male colleague, and he may hear a completely different meaning than if you said it to a female one. This perplexing fact is just one finding from a fascinating survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by telecommunica

"With all due respect"

Fifty-one percent of

women hear this as a negative comment, while 68% of men hear it as a positive one. And 26% of men think it’s a very positive comment, while only 13% of women do. So if one of your employees or colleagues says this to you, you may have no sure way of knowing how they mean it, although if the person who says it is female, there’s a greater

chance it's meant as a criticism.

"A few amends"

What do women mean when they say a document or other work item needs “a few amends”? Almost three quarters of female respondents, or 74%, said it means, “there are just a couple of typos.” Meanwhile, 44% of men

said it means, “this is awful and needs redoing.”

"Bless your heart"

Sounds like another way of saying “you’re sweet,” doesn’t it? And 77% of men said they would understand it that way if someone said it to them. But 44% of women said what it really means is, “you’re dumb.” The phrase can carry some venom, especially in the South.

Flirting, sex talk, and yelling

The gender-based disconnect goes beyond phrases and also includes behaviors and conversation topics, the survey showed. For example, when it comes to flirting in the workplace, 27% of men said this was just fine, while 93% of women found it objectionable. And 20% of men thought talking about sex in the workplace was acceptable while only 6% of women agreed. Similarly, 19% of men said raising your voice in the workplace was OK, while only 5% of women thought that was true.