Do you get nervous when someone starts their sentence with ‘no offense?’ I do. It’s like the perfect guilt-free segue into something truly offensive.
It was rife when I was a teenager, and I cringe to hear that it’s still around.
No offense, but that jumper looks way better on her.
No offense, but your life is pretty boring
No offense, but it’s not like you’re that smart
Woah, you probably shouldn’t be eating that… but, like, no offense
No offense, but I don’t think he’d go for you. Sorry, just saying…
Well maybe just don’t say. Because your ‘sorry not sorry’ isn’t working for me. Or for anyone for that matter.
So, before you throw out a casual ‘no offense,’ think about what you’re actually saying: “I want to say whatever horrible thing comes into my mind, but before I feel bad about it, I’ll qualify it and erase my guilt. Cos, I mean, it’s not my fault if you got offended when I told you not to!”
Honey, we all want you to know something: You’re offensive. And your attempts at masking it aren’t working.
sarsrose 
I dislike ‘with all due respect’ for the very same reason. Whatever follows will invariably be extremely disrespectful.
That’s an interesting one too. Hadn’t thought of that!
I had a coworker who often started with, “I’m not trying to be mean…” Of course what came next was always mean. Funny how that works.
No offense, but I think this no offense idea would really work for me, because I dent to offend people by what I say. What do you think? I mean maybe it would soften the blow a little.