Most politeness is about rephrasing rudeness in a subtle way. What OP’s fictional coworker did in this fictional story is explicitly rude as it assumes the worst from meeting a new person, the most appropriate response would be something that is subtly, but noticeably, rude.
Comment on Anon needs help responding to his coworker
krashmo@lemmy.world 22 hours agoIs that polite though? I get that it isn’t explicitly rude but I pretty much only use that phrase as short hand for “why are you talking about this you fucking weirdo?” I think it’s subtly rude at best.
BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world 19 hours ago
mriormro@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
If a team lead, sight unseen, just tells you their sexual preference without any context or follow-up then yeah that’s fucking weird and they’re a weirdo.
krashmo@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Yeah definitely, just saying I’m not sure polite is the right label for a response with that kind of subtext.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 minute ago
You need to say it slowly. “Okaaaay”
Maximum devastation