English like it's spoke

Harpers have an article about how the English don't always quite say what they mean. It's mostly to do with communications in Europe and the the was alledgely found found by a journalist for The Economist in 2004 on an office wall in the European Court of Justice. The list has such gems as:

What they say: By the way/Incidentally . . .
What is understood: This is not very important.
What they mean: The primary purpose of our discussion is ...

And:

What they say: With the greatest respect . . .
What is understood: He is listening to me.
What they mean: I think you are wrong, or a fool.

Well, anyway, I'm sure I've been guilty of most if not all of these. If guilty's the right word. Mostly it shows that the British can be disdainfully cruel if they can get away with it while still keeping an air of quiet dignity. I can't see anything wrong with that...

The Economist, by the way, have their own article on this, which manages to find other sides the story by looking at how other countries use their native languages in subtly confusing ways:

No less obvious is the fact that ideas about plain speaking do not travel easily across the Channel. As the Brits see things, a Frenchman who says “je serai clair”(which literally means “I will be clear”) should be understood as meaning: “I will be rude”. Also evident is the Anglo-Saxons' contempt for spectacular gestures à la française. The phrase “Il faut la visibilité Européenne”(“We need European visibility”) is rendered as: “The EU must indulge in some pointless, annoying and, with luck, damaging international grand-standing.” The British also suggest that the sentence “Il faut trouver une solution pragmatique” (literal translation: “We must find a pragmatic solution”) should be understood as meaning: “Warning: I am about to propose a highly complex, theoretical, legalistic and unworkable way forward.”