With Due Respect

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/with_due_respect_sm_9557.png

Burn.

"Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"

— Ashley Williams, Mass Effect

In an unquestionably hierarchical situation — often with legally enforceable prerogatives — a junior argues with a senior.

The junior has very good odds of being right, since he is confident despite what his senior thinks, or so he thinks. The more diffident the junior is about making the objection, the more likely it is that he is right (and objecting out of the purest sense of duty). Sometimes the junior merely keeps his complaints to himself, and his displeasure is merely manifested non-verbally. If the junior does voice his opinion, it will usually be prefaced by "With due respect" or some variant, like "With respect" or "With all due respect." Sometimes takes the form of a soldier chewing out a CO and punctuating their rant with a subdued "...sir."

The Bad Boss will view this with disfavor, even if he ordered it; a Benevolent Boss will take it as a sign of good spirits and sense in the subordinate. If he slaps it down and his superior is present, the odds are good that his superior will approve, and insist on it. This can lead to some interesting tensions afterward.

It's something of a Running Gag that this phrase, as noted by the page quote, is almost invariably the preface to an opinion that isn't particularly respectful. The page image also contains an example of this trope being used as an insult in another way: Exact Words. (The speaker thinks you aren't due any respect from them.)

Conversely, especially when addressing a group, it may be a way of showing respect for some of them without the awkwardness of explicitly saying that the speaker respects only some of them.

A common Military Trope. Fire Forged Friendship may lead to this; the junior having won the superior's respect in combat, the superior will listen.

The Old Retainer is prone to it, because criticism must be delivered properly. Other servants may also engage in it.

A more civilian version of this phrase is a "No offense, but..." which is again followed up with a dose of Brutal Honesty.

Compare You Are in Command Now, where a junior may accidentally give a senior an order, and Friend or Foe?, where the junior does not know whether the senior is who he claims to be. When followed by some slang or curse words, the result can be Sophisticated as Hell. See also My Master, Right or Wrong where the junior's sense of ethics (or sometimes just his sense) constantly clashes with the senior's lack thereof, though he still follows. Often said by a despairing Commander Contrarian. Compare to the similar Permission to Speak Freely. See also Rebellious Rebel, where this may occur in the lead up to the rebellion. May be followed by Resigning In Protest if the superior is doing something particularly nasty/objectionable.

Truth in Television, in various degrees in different settings. All professional and social hierarchies include forms for respectful disagreement with a superior, which may be used in earnest or sarcastically depending on the situation and the personal relationships involved. Contrast Right in Front of Me. See also That's an Order!

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

The first couple of episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing show that Relena is pretty good at this, or at least has had lots of practice. A variation occurs in the first episode, where she's backhandedly polite to an Alliance officer.
Officer: We have been waiting for you, Mr. Darlian. A military car is waiting for you outside. Please proceed quickly.
Darlian: Right away? That won't do. I have some things to take care of first for my daughter's birthday.
Officer: I have arranged for a separate car to take your daughter.
Relena: (curtsying) Don't trouble yourself about me. I'm quite capable of finding my own way home.
In Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force, Nanoha uses a variant of this on Hayate, who is a long-time friend, but while on duty, she addresses as she would any other superior. Nanoha says that Hayate getting herself stabbed and staying behind for a few minutes to relay orders was somewhat reckless, then bows and apologizes after making her point.
In the English dub of the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Riza responds to Roy's statement that State Alchemists do terrible things that make most of them not much better than Shao Tucker by saying "With respect," and indicating that his argument based on adult reasoning would be lost on Ed.
- In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a pair of soldiers tell off Ed for acting immaturely, then immediately apologize because, technically speaking, Ed is a superior officer (as a State Alchemist, Ed automatically holds the rank of Major in the army, regardless of his age or experience).
In Girls und Panzer, Yukari does this when Erika insults Miho.
Yukari': If I may say something, I don't think Miho-san's decision was incorrect in the match we had.
Erika: I think someone needs to mind their own business.
Yukari: (chastened) I'm sorry.
- In the "Little Army" prequel manga, Miho, accompanied by her friends, asks her mother Shiho whether her sister Maho needed to shoot an enemy flag tank when it went to save a tank on her team. Shiho calls the question "foolish", says yes and sends Miho's friends home. On the way out, Emi complains about Shiho's attitude and Maho not saying anything, but then Kikuyo, a family maid who heard the entire conversation between Miho and Shiho, responds.
  Kikuyo: "Girls... (bows to them) I beg of you, please don’t blame Lady Maho. The Nishizumi school is passed from mother to child. As the eldest daughter, Lady Maho is burdened with many things."
Black Lagoon. Rock gives this trope to powerful Triad boss Chang, only to follow it up by Suddenly Shouting "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Chang finds this Actually Pretty Funny, as no-one has dared speak to him that way in a while.
Frequently in K, a series about Kings and their supernaturally-devoted Clansmen. The Blue King, Reisi Munakata, receives this the most, from his two immediate subordinates Awashima and Fushimi. At one point, Awashima says this and just smacks him.

Comedy

On The Firesign Theatre's album Everything You Know Is Wrong, there is a film for U.S. generals on how to deal with an attack of space aliens. It includes an example scenario of a Cloud Cuckoolander general who believes the eggs he has been served for breakfast are actually alien spaceships. A lower-ranked officer responds this way:
General: (tapping on his water glass to get everybody's attention) Honey! (referring to his wife) Honey! And Men! (people at the table quiet down) I have something grave to reveal to you. Two flying saucers have just landed on my plate.
Lower-Ranking Officer: Well turn away, sir, and I'll eat them! (people at table being laughing in relief, thinking this is a joke)
General: This is no laughing matter. We are under attack from superior consciousness! All right. Questions! Questions!
Second Lower-Ranking Officer: Sir?
General: Corporal?
Second Lower-Ranking Officer: Uh, pass the syrup, General?
General: That's a good idea, Chuck! But syrup won't stop 'em!
Lower-Ranking Officer: Sir?
General: Colonel?
Lower-Ranking Officer: Are you nuts?
General: Ah, that is just exactly what they want you to believe!
Lower-Ranking Officer: The eggs, sir?
General: Let's just call them "the phenomena".
Lower-Ranking Officer: Well, if I may respectfully submit, sir, I think you have your phenomena scrambled.

Comic Books

2000 AD
- This occurred in the first appearance of the Banzai Battalion:
"Why is it, sergeant, that whenever I hear 'With respect, sir', I know there's insubordination coming?"
- Harry Absalom, Cowboy Cop and Occult Detective, snaps at his superior "With all due disrespect..."
Secret Six #19:
Jeanette: Blake, please inform our leader in the most polite and respectful of terms that I am not following his order.
Catman: Bane, Jeanette says to go *** yourself!
In the Iron Man annual while Tony Stark was running SHIELD; after Tony outlines his plan to depose the corrupt leader of Madripoor, Maria Hill's response: "With all due respe— no, screw the pleasantries. Are you insane?"
In a Peter David Star Trek (DC Comics) story, Kirk is trying to figure out a eulogy for a Red Shirt killed in action. He talks to one of the man's friends who begins with "permission to speak freely" and then launches into a speech on how Kirk and the rest of the bridge crew treat these guys as interchangeable and disposable and while the other "redshirts" accept it, they don't like how Kirk acts high and mighty over them and their sacrifices. It's after he finishes that Kirk dryly points out that "I never actually gave you permission to speak freely" and the guy has a priceless Oh, Crap! look.

Fairy Tales

In Costanza / Costanzo, Costanza expresses her Child Marriage Veto with this
Next - speaking with all submission and reverence - I do not purpose to let myself fall below the race of my ancestors, who from all time have been famous and illustrious, nor do I wish to debase the crown you wear by taking for a husband one who is our inferior. You, my beloved father, have begotten four daughters, of whom you have married three in the most honourable fashion to three mighty kings, giving with them great store of gold and wide domains, but you wish to dispose of me, who have ever been obedient to you and observant of your precepts, in an ignoble alliance. Wherefore I tell you, to end my speech, that I will never take a husband unless I can be mated, like my three sisters, to a king of a rank that is my due.

Fan Works

Advice and Trust: After Shinji and Asuka went against his orders as taking Bardiel down, Commander Gendo fired them. His sub-commander asked him if it was a good idea firing their two best pilots after a successful mission only because they disobeyed his orders and he believes his untested device can replace them. Gendo dismissively blew his concerns off. It turned out that they were well-founded.
In Chapter 16 of Hell and High Water, Rainbow notices that a particularly rude student is acting suspicious and wants to investigate them. Sunset argues that they have to figure out the current magical Apocalypse Cult issue, and that said person is probably just some random, unrelated power-tripping Alpha Bitch. At which point Rainbow says the trope title before reminding her about the last time there was angry alpha bitch in close approximately to dangerous magic.
Sunset (hesitantly): Point made.
In the Star Trek fanfic Heroes, Spock takes exception to one of Surak's (aka "The Father of All That Vulcan Became") remarks about Kirk.
Surak: I deem it accurate to say I have seen more warriors in my time than you in yours; I recognize the thought patterns.
Spock: With respect, Surak...I know my Captain's 'thought patterns' better than you could ever hope to.
In Last Child of Krypton, when Gendo blamed Asuka for underperforming against Shamshel, Misato tried to reason with him using this tactic, but Gendo didn’t want to hear it.
The Night Unfurls:
- The phrase is used by Indriga to show her disagreement with her superior Kyril about leaving him and his apprentices to face off Shamuhaza and his Elite Mooks in the central estate of Rad alone. Kyril acknowledges her concern, but he insists.
  Kyril: Go and rendezvous with Shalala at the dungeons. My Hunters and I will press on.
  Indriga: Sir, with all due respect. I'm not going to leave you out here to face off against whatever shit is in here alone.
  Kyril: Noted. I will be proceeding with my apprentices.
- Kyril, the Black Knight, uses this phrase in a deadpan way towards Celestine, The High Queen, after the two kiss.
  Kyril: With respect milady. If I were not the same man that stands before you today, I would have had my head cut off if I were caught.
Once More with Feeling: In chapter 9 the cast has fown to a carrier to picking Asuka and Unit 02. However the fleet's Admiral is complaining non-stopping about being turned into a cargo service and having to baby-sit a bunch of children. Finally Shinji got fed up with it:
“With the greatest of respect, Sir” he continued, “the twin of that toy you are transporting took out that Angel in sixty three seconds, with no civilian casualties, no military casualties and minimal collateral damage to the city it was fighting in. Us ‘kids’ have to pilot these things because there isn’t anyone else who can. While our classmates at school are worrying about who they’ll invite to the dance, we are wondering if tomorrow we’ll die as we’re ripped to pieces by something nuclear weapons barely slow down, knowing if we fail, out entire race is going to die. So, respectfully, I’d ask you to show some fucking respect”.
The Second Try: After Shinji disobeyed orders when he fought Bardiel, Gendo suspended him from duty for several weeks. Misato tried to protest that such an action could prove fatal in case of another attack, but Gendo refused listening.
ToyHammer here
"With all due respect, Chaplain Morteus, Michael would not want a rat's head nailed to the wall!"
"Why does 'With all due respect' sound like 'frak you', Vincent?"
Lieutenant Philip Holtack, a British Army officer who via serious misadventure and a magical accident ends up on Terry Pratchett's Discworld, does this when confronted with the calibre of man who becomes a senior Army officer in Ankh-Morpork. Horrified that people like Lord Rust end up commanding regiments, but conditioned by the rank badges they wear, he speaks to them with a lot of "due respect". See Slipping Between Worlds.
- it also happens to Holtack himself. His platoon sergeant "advises" ^note tells. him to get his personal weapon checked out by an armourer, on the grounds that he might then be able to just only miss the city walls by ten feet and thus improve his marksmanship. As both have just colluded in overlooking a (technical) act of actual bodily harm perpetrated on a Loyalist paramilitary by a private soldier, this is within the bounds of accepted conduct. The armoury sergeant also makes jovial comment about the young officer's inability to shoot straight. Holtack himself is also constructively obstructive to a very senior policeman investigating the assault on the Loyalist terrorist, sorry, upstanding representative of the Ulster Protestant community.
Used mildly in The Wrong Reflection. Kanril Eleya actually does respect Fleet Admiral William Riker, she just views her reprimand for insubordination and disrespectful conduct to a superior officer as Unishment.
Eleya: Respectfully, sir, can you see me stuck behind a desk directing fleets or running a research office?
Riker: Mm, no, I can't.
Eleya: Then I think I’ll survive. Sir.
The Rigel Black Chronicles: Harry bullies Professor Snape into accepting half the harvested basilisk parts for research purposes, with phrases like "stubbornly pigheaded" and "owning up to your ability", then sees the look on his face, coughs, and adds, "Sir."
In Susan Bones and the Prisoner of Azkaban Susan guards the DADA classroom to prevent evidence tampering when a disguised Barty Crouch Junior dies after unsuccessfully hitting Harry with the killing curse.
Snape: Proper authority has arrived, Miss Bones. You are dismissed.
Susan: With all due respect, Profes-
Snape: It has been my experience that anyone starting with that clause follows it immediately with exactly the opposite. If that is the case, shut up. Now leave.
No More Games:
Harry: With all due respect, Sirius, but your paranoia is making you stupid.
What You Already Know - Lost City allows General Hammond to deliver one of these to Vice-President Kinsey when he tries to order SG-1 to stay on Earth because he's convinced their current claims to a clue to the Lost City are just them trying to hide their mistakes, Hammond bluntly informing Kinsey in turn that President Hayes has already authorised SG-1 to follow up their latest clue, delivering the statement in a manner that makes it clear he considers Kinsey worthy of no respect whatsoever.
Said word-for-word in the Junior Officers chapter "Driving Lesson" by Elekai:
"Sir, with all due respect, isn't her mentor supposed to be teaching her this?"

Film - Animated

This exchange in Aladdin, between Iago and Jafar:
Iago: With all due respect, Your Rottenness, couldn't we just wait for a real storm?
In Smurfs: The Lost Village, this conversation between Smurfette and Smurfstorm:
Smurfette: With all due respect, you don't know Gargamel.
Smurfstorm: Yeah, well, with no due respect, you don't know us.
Treasure Planet: Captain Amelia is a perfect example of this
Captain Amelia: Again, Doctor, With the greatest possible respect, zip your howling screamer.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney): This exchange between Frollo and Phoebus
Phoebus: With all due respect, sir, I was not trained to murder the innocents.
Frollo: But you were trained to follow orders.

Film - Live-Action

Broadway Danny Rose:
Danny: I don't wanna badmouth the kid, but he's a horrible, dishonest, immoral louse. And I say that with all due respect.
In Bruges: The genial hitman Ken delivers this Country Matters laden one to his boss:
Ken: Harry, let's face it. And I'm not being funny. I mean no disrespect, but you're a cunt. You're a cunt now, and you've always been a cunt. And the only thing that's going to change is that you're going to be an even bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids.
- This prompts Harry to furiously demand that Ken retract that bit about his kids.
  Ken: I retracted it, didn't I? (Beat) Still leaves you a cunt...
  Harry: Yeah, I fuckin' got that!
In The Dark Knight Bruce and Alfred are having a discussion about the origins and motives of the Joker, whom Bruce considers a common criminal, like the rest of the mob. Alfred, however, directly rebuts Bruce's cavalier analysis and offers his own, complete with the opinion that Bruce doesn't understand his new opponent at all, prefacing his pointed words 'with respect'. Given the pair's relationship, his words are to be taken as entirely genuine.
Played straight and lampshaded in The Last Samurai with Sgt. Zebulon Gant when Algren attempts to prevent his Heroic Sacrifice: "No disrespect intended, sir, but shove it up your ass!"
The Fugitive plays it mostly straight: the local Sheriff isn't "senior" to a career US Marshal, but they do have legal jurisdiction.
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Sheriff Rawlins, with all due respect, I'd like to suggest check points on a 15 mile radius out here on I-57, I-20 and on route 13 out of Chester...
One of Yulian's henchman in Nobody points out that the man never even liked his brother after the latter is left comatose and possibly permanently brain damaged after pissing off the film's hero. The henchman does so very cautiously, which is justified since Yulian is kind of an Ax-Crazy Russian gangster, but all Yulian does is gently chide him that his statement was "as true as it was unwise to say".
Star Trek:
- In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Captain Decker is preoccupied with getting the Enterprise ready to depart when Admiral Kirk meets with him, and Decker tells him, "With all due respect, sir, I hope this isn't some kind of Starfleet pep talk." At this point, Decker just think Kirk's along for the send-off, so he's just trying to be polite, not realizing that Kirk's there to relieve him and assume command of the ship.
- In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock delivers a variant to Kirk.
  "If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material."
- In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, when ordered to take the not-completely-operational Enterprise-A to Nimbus III, Kirk tells the commanding admiral, "With all due respect, the Enterprise is a disaster!" The admiral sends them anyway because "we need Jim Kirk." Guess who directed and co-wrote this film?
- Star Trek: First Contact: Lieutenant Commander Worf does genuinely respect Captain Picard, he is simply frustrated with the Captain's refusal to destroy the Enterprise obviously being clouded by his desire for revenge against the Borg. The argument almost turns deadly when Picard calls the Proud Warrior Race Guy a coward. He later apologizes.
  Worf: With all due respect, sir, I believe you are allowing your experience with the Borg to influence your judgement!
  Picard: You're afraid. You want to destroy this ship and run away. You coward!
  Worf: (gets in Picard's face) If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand!
  Picard: Get off my bridge!
- Star Trek (2009):
  - Kirk comes tearing onto the Bridge shouting for Captain Pike to get out of warp now because a giant Romulan spaceship from the future with a really pissed-off Captain is waiting to chew the fleet to pieces. He's right.
  - Another example from this film is how Young Spock salutes the Vulcan Council. Probably the only time the phrase "Live long and prosper" was delivered as though it continued "...and the horse you rode in on."
- In Star Trek Into Darkness, when Spock orders the bridge crew to Abandon Ship as the badly-damaged Enterprise is about to fall out of orbit, Sulu answers, "All due respect, Commander, but we're not going anywhere." The True Companions status of the reboot Enterprise crew is hence confirmed.
This exchange from the The Fog (1980):
Kathy Williams: Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make "Yes, Ma'am" sound like "screw you".
Sandy Fedel: Yes, Ma'am.
In Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby:
Ricky: With all due respect, I didn't know you underwent an experimental procedure to have your balls removed.
Dennit: ...excuse me?!
Ricky: I said "with all due respect".
Dennit: That doesn't mean you get to say whatever you want to me.
Ricky: Yes it does! It's in the Geneva Convention! Look it up!
Used in Che Part One (a film about Che Guevera). When Che is visiting New York, he learns of a bomb threat against him. Che tells his personal security guard that he wants his guard to ride in a separate car (so his guard will be safe), but his guard says, "With all due respect, I should ride with you."
Outbreak:
- Colonel Daniels has this exchange with General McClintock while in a helicopter blocking a bomber from nuking a small town:
  General McClintock: With all due respect, Colonel Daniels, if you do not follow us to Travis Air Force Base, I will blow you out of the sky.
  Daniels: General, with all due respect, fuck you, sir.
- When Daniels and Salt are discussing how to intercept the Tae Kuk, Salt says, "You want me to fly you out to sea, drop you onto a freighter? Sir, with all due respect, that is idiotic."
Parodied in In the Loop.
Jamie: Well if it isn't Humpty Numpty...
Simon: What is this, surround bollocking?
Jamie: With due respect, I hadn't finished. Well if it isn't Humpty Numpty, sitting on top of a collapsing wall like some clueless egg...cunt. Now I'm finished.
Lampshaded in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
Eunice Bloom: "With all due respect"... man, I hate it when people say that because it is inevitably followed by a disrespectful remark. Here, let me give you an example: With all due respect detective, this matter falls under whatever jurisdiction I fuckin’ say it does.
From Titanic (1997):
Rose: You're crazy!
Jack: That's what everybody says but with all due respect, miss, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship here.
Disregarded by Dodge in Down Periscope.
Dodge: Since when did the rules ever apply to you?
Graham: Watch it! Don't you realise that you are addressing a superior officer?
Dodge: No, merely a higher ranking one.
- Invoked by the Orlando's CO, Commander Knox, when Admiral Graham assumes command of his sub.
Graham: The Admiral has the conn.
Knox: Admiral, with all due respect, this is my boat.
Graham: Not anymore, "with all due respect".
Apollo 13, after one of the NASA guys says this could be the biggest disaster NASA's ever experierenced.
Gene Kranz: With all due respect, sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour.
Thirteen Days. The Admiral gets into a heated argument over the "shots" he ordered fired at the Soviet ships with his civilian superior, Defense Secretary McNamara. The Admiral prefaces his argument with this, while clearly being condescending to him.
Prometheus, after the captain suggests to the pilots that they use the escape pods before their kamikaze run at the Engineers' ship.
"With all due respect, captain, you're a shit pilot and you're going to need all the help you can get."
In Kingsman: The Secret Service, Harry has apparently been trying to convince Arthur for years that the Kingsmen need to evolve with the times and not shut out good potential candidates just because they don’t hail from upper class families. When Arthur refuses to give him any ground, Harry gives Arthur a succinct, but polite piece of his mind.
This exchange between Colonel Phillips and Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger, when Rogers showed the colonel the map he had copied from the Red Skull's Hydra headquarters:
Col. Phillips: What do you say, Rogers? It's your map, you think you can wipe Hydra off of it?
Steve Rogers: Yes, sir. I'll need a team.
Col. Phillips: We're already putting together the best men.
Steve Rogers: With all due respect, sir. So am I.
in the opening scene of Burn After Reading, this line is uttered by Osborne when talking to his supervisor who just accused him of having a drinking problem.
Osborne: Palmer, with all due respect, what the fuck are you talking about?
Wild Wild West. When President Grant tells West and Gordon that they're going to be working together, they both start to protest while using the phrase "With all due respect". Grant tells them that they will do whatever their Commander-in-Chief orders them to do, and they both back down.
Played dramatically in Zootopia, when Judy feels like she doesn't deserve to be the poster-mammal for the ZPD after her comments at the press conference inflame anti-predator sentiments.
Bogo: The world has always been broken. That's why we need good cops... like you.
Judy: With all due respect, sir, a "good cop" is supposed to serve and protect... to help the city, not tear it apart.
In Beauty and the Beast (2017), when Gaston sends everyone off to kill the Beast, LeFou starts up "Gaston, with all due respect..." Gaston cuts him off, asking if he wants to be next to be locked in an asylum cart.
The Wild Geese. Despite having a great deal of respect for his commander, RSM Sandy Young gives an awesome version when Colonel Faulkner decides to pay him off so he can go home (he was hired as a Drill Sergeant Nasty to knock them into shape before the mission).
Young: Sir! With respect, you can stick the money up your arse that's all I can offer you sir. I love what I do, I also love these grubby, thickheaded men I trained — you most of all and I expect to be with them and with you because I'm needed. You want to see a REAL revolution? Try and stop me.
Bumblebee has Agent Burns use this trope to express his dislike for Dr. Powell's suggestion that Sector 7 ally with the Decepticons:
Burns: With all due respect, have you lost your damn mind?!
Powell: That's with all due respect?
In "Mary Poppins" after Mr. Banks has been humiliatingly dismissed from The Bank and has discovered the profundity of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious":
Mr. Dawes Sr.: What are you talking about, man? There's no such word!
Mr. Banks: Oh yes! It is a word! A perfectly good word! Actually, do you know what there's no such thing as? It turns out, with due respect, when all is said and done, that there's no such thing as YOU!

Literature

Warhammer 40,000 examples:
- In Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts novel His Last Command, Commissar Kanow tries to bludgeon into Junior Commissar Ludd that there is no need to investigate the story of certain "deserters and heretics", even though some of it could be corroborated; Ludd still demurs. Which is why Gaunt and his team take Kanow hostage and, when he cannot be reasoned with, get Ludd to contact their higher-ups.
  - In Blood Pact, when Maggs tries to persuade Gaunt to tell him more of what is going on, he offers "with enormous deference" that since he has Maggs and no one else it might be advisable.
- In Graham McNeill's novel Storm of Iron, when Honsou speaks of their plan of attack, the Warsmith slaps him down, hard, for thinking himself worthy of making a suggestion and says he considers himself merciful for not punishing him.
  - On the Imperial side, when his aide suggests that Major Tedeski is exposing himself to danger, Tedeski points out they are not facing snipers and the artillery is too low.
- In James Swallow's novel Faith & Fire, when Lethe asks a question, Dione draws in her breath; Miriya deduces that Dione does not let her squad speak without permission.
- Space Wolf examples:
  - In William King's Grey Hunters, when Ragnar first meets the Wolf Lord Berek, he speaks his mind. This produces some approval and some disapproval from the other Space Marines there.
  - In Lee Lightner's Sons Of Fenris, Sebastian paces after they retreat. Jeremiah asks if he wishes to speak, and Sebastian says, "With respect, no," before admitting that he dislikes retreating.
  - In Wolf's Honor, Ragnar tells Grimnar that he should be sent to the battlefield and he'd rather die on it than live where they are. Grimnar calls his an arrogant pup, cuffs him, and says he couldn't have said it better himself.
- Horus Heresy examples:
  - In Dan Abnett's Horus Rising, Torgaddon is telling one of Eidolon's juniors Tarvitz how Eidolon's actions, blowing up certain trees, produced beneficial effects. One of Tarvitz's juniors, Bulle, requests permission to speak; Tarvitz tries to get him to keep quiet, but Torgaddon overrules him, and Bulle reveals that blowing up the trees had been Tarvitz's action, and Eidolon had rebuked him for it, until he realized what it had done. Torgaddon strictly informs his superiors that if Bulle is punished for this, he will punish them.
  - In Graham McNeill's False Gods, Petronella Vivar tells Horus that if he think he can bully her, he can go to hell — sir. (He had told her to call him "Horus".) He laughs, she is certain he will never appoint her as his remembrancer, and he appoints her on the spot.
  - The author was recycling an identical scene in his "Ambassador Chronicles".
  - In Dan Abnett's Legion, when Alpharius says they can not leave what they have sworn to do, Soneka objects that they do. When everyone looks at him, he is more diffident but points out that they act with relentless pragmatism about everything.
  - In James Swallow's Flight of the Eisenstein, while waiting on a crippled ship to see who the Imperial forces that found them were, the ship's captain checks what he is saying, and Garro urges him to speak: their experiences together should permit candor. Later, when Dorn strikes Garro for telling him of Horus's treachery, Qruze tells him he must hear him out. Dorn roars that Qruze ought to have been retired, and he dares give him an order. Qruze points out that he could have broken Garro's neck with the blow, and didn't; he knew Garro's words had value and wanted the complete truth. He listens to the rest. At the end he accuses Garro of insanity; Garro counter-accuses him of blindness.
  - In Graham McNeill's Fulgrim, Caphen questions Solomon's orders.
    Sir, without wishing to appear impertinent, are you sure that's the right choice?
  - Later, when Fulgrim comes to Ferrus Manus, one of Ferrus Manus's captains, Santar, complains of the arrogance of Fulgrim's legion, angering Ferrus Manus; he apologizes for speaking out of turn, and Ferrus Manus, no longer angry, tells him that he spoke from the heart, which is what he values him for.
- In James Swallow's Blood Angels novel Red Fury, Brother-Sergeant Rafen interrupts two Chapter Masters who are obviously about to quarrel with the comment that "with respect" this was not the place.
- In Dan Abnett's Brothers of the Snake, when Petrok is ordering Priad to prepare his squad, Priad starts to say "with respect" and Petrok explodes that Priad should show some respect. Then he apologizes, but he still insists on overriding Priad though he does explain why.
- In Nick Kyme's novel Salamanders, when N'keln proposes returning for Revenge, Dak'ir says "with respect, sir" that the enemy would have left by now.
  - Later, Dak'ir orders Emek to tell him what he is thinking, despite his expressed desire to not appear insubordinate. When Emek reveals that soldiers are wondering whether Dak'ir was responsible for their captain's death, Dak'ir briefly considers punishing him — but he had asked him.
- In Cadian Blood, Seth, the sanctioned psyker of his Imperial Guard regiment, speaks up in a meeting with the Raven Guard to ask if he can consult with the Space Marine librarian about the Emperor's Tarot. Nearly gets shot by his commissar, but the Space Marines treat the request with utmost respect.
In Dorothy L. Sayers' Whose Body, a junior doctor takes it upon himself to say at the inquest that he thought the dead man might have lingered several days, although Sir Julian Freke says he died at once. The junior doctor is very diffident about it, but Lord Peter Wimsey points out that this is evidence: The young doctor had to be very certain to go against such an eminent authority.
- This is doubly important because Dr. Freke was the murderer.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld story The Last Hero (quote).
- Used in Going Postal, when Corrupt Corporate Executive Reacher Gilt uses the phrase three times over the course of telling the Patrician "We can do what we like and you can't stop us". The Patrician sardonically notes that such a great amount of respect is gratifying.
- In The Last Continent, the University Bledlows (the porters and proctors, who in any time-honoured University heirarchy officially rank way below the dons) take delight in performing a loud, noisy, drill manoevre, with lots of BRIAN BLESSED-style shouting, right underneath the Bursar's bedroom window in the wee small hours. They get pointedly louder to drown out his fractious protests. Tradition is, after all, not to be complained at or interfered with.
- Subverted in The Fifth Elephant; Commander Vimes, making a point about how orders are supposed to work, orders Detritus to shoot a man in cold blood. Detritus first hesitates, then refuses, then essentially tells Vimes the troll equivalent of "stick it up your ass"; he amends "With respect" to this last one. The subversion being that, because Vimes is a very good boss, Detritus actually does respect him, and he really only got away with saying something so offensive because he was proving Vimes' point.
- In The Truth, the civilian "No offense, but" version is lampshaded by William de Worde. "He wondered why he disliked people who always said 'No offense meant'. Perhaps it was because it was easier for them to say 'no offense meant' than to actually refrain from giving offense."
America (The Book) uses the trope for a C-Span drinking game.
Lampshaded in Ender's Game, when a superior tells Graff to "please stop assuring me of how respectful you are whenever you're about to tell me that I'm an idiot."
Characters in Star Trek: New Frontier are fond of mentioning how the least respectful things they hear are usually preceded by "With all due respect".
Jellico: Just once I'd like it if someone coupled the phrase 'with all due respect' with some sort of sentiment that was genuinely respectful.
Made the subject of a joke in Star Trek: Vanguard by Captain Nassir and Commander Terrell:
"I assume that was said with all due respect?"
"Oh, absolutely, sir".
Star Wars Legends:
- In the Hand of Thrawn duology, Supreme Commander Pellaeon's Commander Contrarian tries to make him change his counter-intuitive plans and uses this sort of phrasing, to Pellaeon's amusement.
  "Trust me, Captain," Pellaeon said, trying hard not to smile as his mind suddenly flashed back ten years. Then, he'd been the earnest captain standing on this same deck, trying in the most diplomatic way possible to make his superior see sense in the middle of a tense combat situation. [...] And yet Thrawn had never reprimanded him for his impertinence and lack of understanding. He had merely continued calmly with his plans, allowing the results to speak for themselves.
- Wraith Squadron: It's a senior talking to a junior here, but something about how a general expresses his displeasure at Commander Wedge Antilles's plan echoes this trope.
  Crespin: After due consideration and review, I think it's a terrible idea.
In Edgar Rice Burroughs's Chessman of Mars, the jeddak O-Tar demands that his major-domo, E-Thas, tell him the rumors about him. E-Thas, with obvious reluctance, does so, with many claims that this is Malicious Slander and that he is only repeating what others are saying.
From one of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster books:
"I don't want to seem always to be criticizing your methods of voice production, Jeeves," I said, "but I must inform you that that 'Well, sir' of yours is in many respects fully as unpleasant as your 'Indeed, sir?' Like the latter, it seems to be tinged with a definite scepticism. It suggests a lack of faith in my vision. The impression I retain after hearing you shoot it at me a couple of times is that you consider me to be talking through the back of my neck, and that only a feudal sense of what is fitting restrains you from substituting for it the words 'Says you!'"
Inverted in C. S. Lewis's Prince Caspian, after a long debate in which Trumpkin maintains that sending someone to look for Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy is foolish, but Caspian decides otherwise, Trumpkin volunteers to go, much to Caspian's surprise. He explains to Caspian that having given his advice, now he must take orders; he knows the difference.
In John C. Wright's The Golden Transcedence, Atkins gives his knife an order; it asks for a written, notarized copy. Atkins knows that the only reason it would do so would be to preserve that information for a court martial; no soldier would ask for such for a lawful order. He tells the knife of how his uncle taught him that good and evil, if real, are irrelevant; Might Makes Right. The knife asks for permission to speak frankly before pointing out that his uncle, by his own account, also lost and therefore was, by that logic, wrong.
In Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind, the Navigation Officer ends her objection with "With respect."
The equivalent phrase, in multiple Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novels is "That turns out not to be the case", originating in the novel The Mote in God's Eye:
Renner: Wrong!
Blaine: The tactful way, the polite way to disagree with the Senator would be to say, 'That turns out not to be the case.'
Renner: Hey, I like that. Anyway, the Senator's wrong.
- Later in the book, Renner disagrees with a higher authority, starting out by saying "That turns out not to be the case."
In Jack Campbell's Courageous, Captain Desjani uses this when Geary says he doesn't want to talk.
In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter, Mab frequently starts off with "Begging your pardon." At the end, he says it to Prospero, and then withdraws it, not letting habit trump his new freedom.
A non-insulting version occurs in Harry Turtledove's The Guns of the South, where a Confederate junior lieutenant stops Robert E. Lee (who is the Confederate President) from entering a room by saying "With due respect sir, I should go first in case there are any traps." The narration even notes that he uses "the self-conscious tone all junior officers use when dressing down their superiors".
In John Hemry's The Lost Stars novel Tarnished Knight, in a discussion with Iceni, at one point Marphissa observes that she had just contradict a CEO to her face.
The enlisted men and sergeants in the McAuslan series are this to their officers. One private haggles with Lt. MacNeill over wages for off-duty employment; a batman lectures him about the state of his clothes (finishing with "Sir"); another private does a popular "court-jester" routine for his teeth-clenching commanding officer; and the pipe-band plays "Johnnie Cope" outside the subalterns' quarters at six-thirty in the morning. Also, the Colonel uses "controlled sarcasm" on The Brigadier.
In Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, the senior editor to newspaper proprietor Lord Copper is such a hopeless yes man that he can't quite bring himself to ever contradict his boss: instead of "No", he just says "Up to a point, Lord Copper."
In John C. Wright's The Hermetic Millennia, Menelaus, posing as a subordinate Chimara, argues with all due respect that his more stealthy plan is better.
In Seanan McGuire's October Daye novels
- A Local Habitation: Having sent Connor to fetch Quentin from a place where people are dying of mysterious causes, Sylvester changes his mind and tells Toby that she and Quentin, and Connor, are to stay put because the trip is not safe. With all due respect, Toby reminds him that people are dying here; it does not change his mind back.
- Ashes Of Honor, Toby prefaces her comments "Not to be rude or anything." Riordan observes that always means rudeness will follow.
In John Hemry's Burden of Proof, when Paul asks Sharpe something after the fire, Sharpe, with due respect, tells him it might be relevant to the investigation, and so does not tell him.
In Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, Holly tells Foaly that the guidelines which suggest that in her situation she should retreat to a safe distance and construct a bivouac are "with respect... a pile of troll weevils." Foaly, who helped to write those guidelines, asks if she actually knows what respect means.
Journey to Chaos: Because Nolien was raised to be Gentleman and a Scholar, he always has to be polite, even when disagreeing with the leader of his mercenary team.
"With all due respect, Daylra, we can’t obey such an order."
In H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising, a pilot breaks off an attack his passenger, General von Schlichten, had been pursuing:
"Dammit, why did you do that?" von Schlichten demanded, lifting his foot from the gun-pedal. "Are you afraid of the kind of popguns those geeks are using?"
"I am not afraid to risk my vehicle, or myself, sir," the lieutenant replied, with the extreme formality of a very junior officer chewing out a very senior one. "I am, however, afraid to risk my passenger. Generals are not expendable, sir; neither are they issued for use as clay pigeons."
He was right, of course. Von Schlichten admitted it....
In The Mortal Word from The Invisible Library books, Irene uses it with Duan Zheng, the narration notes it as being "the traditional signal that one is about to be very disrespectful."

Live-Action TV

From Altered Carbon.
De Soto: I vote we kill him.
Quellcrist: It's not a democracy, de Soto.
De Soto: Then I respectfully request we kill him.
Quellcrist: Request duly noted, Envoy.
Our Miss Brooks: Occasionally said by Walter Denton to Miss Brooks (Walter's English teacher). Also occasionally used by Miss Brooks to Principal Osgood Conklin.
Seinfeld: When George Costanza criticized George Steinbrenner's decisions to his face, Costanza wound up working for the Yankees for a season.
George Steinbrenner: Nice to meet you.
George Costanza: Well, I wish I could say the same, but I must say, with all due respect, I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you have made with this fine organization. In the past twenty years, you have caused myself, and the city of New York, a good deal of distress as we have watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduced them to a laughingstock, all for the glorification of your massive ego.
George Steinbrenner: Hire this man!
In Battlestar Galactica (2003), this is always prefaced by Starbuck asking for permission to speak plainly, since a subordinate is supposed to be quiet unless the superior says so. The one time Adama tells her no, the matter is not under discussion, she's amazed.
24
Jack Bauer: With all due respect, Mr. President, sixteen hours ago your people were willing to hand me over for dead, and I did not hesitate.
The A-Team
Mayor Laskov: With all due respect, sir, I don't think Colonel Smith's unorthodox strategies will be very effective in the face of a court martial. The A-Team will discover that the element of surprise is ours this time.
Alias
Michael Vaughn: Jack, he just lost his wife. I mean, with all due respect, why are you fighting with me on this?
CSI
Greg Sanders: Well, with all due respect, sir, it's not a baked potato.
Red Dwarf:
- "The End":
  Lister: With all due respect sir, what's in it for the cat?
- Also, from "Stasis Leak":
  Rimmer: With respect, sir, you've got your head right up your big fat arse.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Commander William T. Riker: With all due respect, sir - you need me. Particularly now.
- Lieutenant Worf: With all due respect... BEGONE! Sir.
- Lieutenant Worf: With all due respect, sir, I have always felt free to voice my opinions even when they differ from those of Captain Picard or Commander Riker.
  Lieutenant Commander Data: That is true. But in those situations, you were acting as Head of Security, not as First Officer. The primary role of the second in command is to carry out the decisions of the Captain in this case, me.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
- "Crossfire":
  Odo: With all due respect, Commander, you don't know me well enough to gauge my state of mind.
  (a moment later)
  Worf: With all due respect, I do not see how sitting in a chair, staring at a wall is going to help apprehend Shakaar's would-be assassin.
- "Bar Association":
  Chief O'Brien: With all due respect sir, we — we weren't brawling.
- "Let He Who is Without Sin...", after Worf helps the New Essentials disable Risa's weather control system:
  Dr. Bashir: With all due respect, are out of your mind?!
Star Trek: Voyager:
Captain Kathryn Janeway: With all due respect, Dr. Frazier, you were one harmonious family bent on the violent assimilation of innocent cultures.
- In "Year of Hell", Voyager is confronted by a lightly-armed Krenim warship and its overly-officious captain.
  Krenim captain: Reverse course, or be destroyed!
  Janeway: With all due respect, unless you’ve got something a little bigger in your torpedo tubes I’m not turning around.
- In "Alliances", Chakotay shows a rare moment of exasperation over Janeway's refusal to Take a Third Option.
  "With all due respect, maybe your imagination is limited by Starfleet protocols."
- Played straight in "Emanations" when Harry Kim objects to an order from Chakotay. Contrary to what usually happens with this trope, respect is shown afterwards, with Harry thanking Chakotay for letting him voice his opinion.
In Star Trek: Enterprise, various characters say "with all due respect" so frequently it's practically a drinking game.
Star Trek: Picard:
- "Broken Pieces":
  Admiral Clancy: Admiral Picard, with all due respect, and at long last — shut the fuck up!
It's used quite regularly in Stargate SG-1:
- Including:
  Daniel: Sir, with all due respect, the good senator is an ass.
- Tobin tries it unsuccessfully on a Prior in the tenth season.
- Jack manages to invert it in "Shades of Grey":
  Well, with no due respect, General, that's just plain stupid.
- Carter uses it all the time when explaining why Jack and/or Daniel's plan du jour won't work.
  Carter: With all due respect, sir, [insert technobabble here].
A variant on Stargate Atlantis when a heavily injured Sheppard wants to participate in a dangerous rescue mission:
Sheppard: Colonel, I have more respect for you than any commanding officer I've ever had, but I'm getting on that Jumper, end of story. I'll surrender for court martial when I'm done.
In Yes, Minister, Humphrey is technically Hacker's junior but actually regards him as inferior and rather dull. As a result:
Humphrey: And, with respect, Minister-
Hacker: Don't-don't use that filthy language to me, Humphrey.
Humphrey: Filthy language, Minister?
Hacker: I know what "with respect" means in your jargon. It means you're just about to imply that anything I'm about to suggest is beneath contempt.
A Touch of Frost:
Inspector Frost: With all due respect, sir...
Superintendent Mullett: (butting in) There's no respect at all in your voice when you say that, did you know?
Posca the slave in Rome when Mark Antony threatens to force Calpurnia to leave Rome:
Posca: With all respect, sir, but until the will is ratified I am bound to serve the Julii and I must request that you not forcibly remove my mistress. With all respect.
Ally McBeal:
Ally: I mean, with all due respect, you sort of walk around with uppity breasts...and the hair flips aren't the most subtle...and your perfume! You could be flammable! Now what if somebody shut you down as a safety hazard. How would you feel then?
Elaine: That was with all due respect??
Corner Gas:
Karen: I know you're my superior, so I say this with all due respect. How stupid are you?
In an episode of Boston Legal, when Alan goes to Texas to appeal a man's execution. The lawyer who asked for his help warns him that if he feels the need to retaliate he should instead say "With all due respect, may it please the court." Naturally Alan ends up saying it after nearly every statement, and practically yelling it by the end of his talk, following a no-holds-barred verbal smackdown.
In True Blood, Erik actually does deliver the next line with a certain amount of respect, though the fact of the matter is he's saying, "That's not what you should do," in politer terms. To his queen. Leading to...
[while choking him] "With all due respect"? Oh, I am due a lot more respect than that.
- Later on, he shows her that the only reason he tolerated her antics was because he respected her position, even though he is at least twice her age and much stronger. In the third season, he reserves the same kind of "respect" for King William Compton of Louisiana.
Doctor Who:
- In "The Dominators", the subordinate's fractious and violent nature leads to frequent insubordination, once prefixed with this.
- In "The Invasion of Time", Borusa postfixes his comments with "I meant no disrespect."
Whenever this phrase comes out of Barbara Havers' mouth, it is a fairly reasonable bet that she doesn't mean a word of it. Should she actually mean it, it is then a fairly reasonable bet that shit just got serious.
In The Sopranos episode "All Due Respect", Silvio pulls this with Tony when Tony seems willing to go to war with the New York mafia over his wayward cousin Tony Blundetto. Tony gives it right back to him:
Tony: All due respect, you got no fuckin' idea what it's like to be Number One. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other fuckin' thing. It's too much to deal with almost. And in the end you're completely alone with it all.
- But in the end, he takes Silvio's advice.
In Community, Jeff Winger is unsurprisingly blunt in his usage of this trope when confronting Pierce's father: "With all due respect, I have zero respect for you."
- He uses it on his own father in pretty much the exact same way: "With all due respect, which is none, go to hell."
House:
Taub: With all due respect—
House: None taken.
Doc Bryan of Generation Kill does it after being prompted multiple times.
Doc Bryan: Are you asking me to speak frankly, sir?
Encino Man: Yes, well...
Doc Bryan: Well, sir, it's just that you're incompetent, sir.
Encino Man: I'm doing the best I can.
Doc Bryan: Sir, it's not good enough.
Referred to in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Luminous Fish Effect":
Sheldon: I can't believe [the new department head] fired me.
Leonard: Well, you did call him a glorified high school teacher whose last successful experiment was lighting his own farts.
Sheldon: In my defense, I did preface it by saying "with all due respect".
Happens several times in Horatio Hornblower. Sometimes it's really meant (when addressing good captain Pellew or similar), but at other times the implications are clear, especially in "Mutiny" and "Retribution" when the lieutenants had to deal with their crazy captain and weak First Lieutenant.
- Mr. Bush tried it quite politely when Captain Sawyer was unjustly berating Hornblower when he should have been praised. However, when Sawyer barked at him, Bush tried to take it back as well as he could.
- Hornblower wanted to settle an issue with his seaman Styles who was beaten nearly to death by Randall. By that time, Captain Sawyer was paranoid and unable to judge clearly. He told Hornblower that he was too squeamish and that he would lay no charges. When Hornblower pulls respect on him, Sawyer gets super-angry and even more suspicious.
  Hornblower: With respect, Sir, I find...
  Sawyer: Respect? What do you know of respect?
- When they defeated some Spaniards, Buckland was all too eager to accept their demands: safe passage to Kingston and letting them keep their ships.
  Hornblower: With respect, Sir, I think we're selling ourselves short.
  Buckland: What do you have in mind? Make off with their women?
  Hornblower: I suggest we demand unconditional surrender.
- When Acting Captain Buckland insists they blow up the fort, sending one of his subordinates to a suicide mission, Archie Kennedy asks him absolutely bluntly: "With respect, Sir, what's to be gained?"
- Captain Hammond uses this respect Stock Phrase to challenge Commodore Pellew when he accuses Buckland, quite correctly, of sending one of his officers to death. Captain Hammond is a bit of a Hanging Judge, but Buckland has made a fool of himself already and he wants a different scapegoat.
The phrase occurs many times on JAG, which is not surprising given its military theme.
- In "Gypsy Eyes", when Admiral Chegwidden learns that Harm and Mac are missing in Russia on Harm’s private quest to find his long lost father, the Secretary of the Navy forbids Chegwidden from going over there, to which the old Navy SEAL courteously replies.
  Admiral Chegwidden: With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, you don’t want to try to stop me.
Supernatural. The Winchesters bind Death with a spell so he can kill Castiel for them.
Death: Why should I?
Dean: Because...we said so and we're the boss of you. (Sam and Bobby look aghast at Dean). I mean, respectfully...
Murdoch Mysteries:
- In "The Glass Ceiling", Inspector Brackenreid gets desperate to find a killer who's threatening him and orders the constables to strong-arm every known criminal they can find to get information on the man. Detective Murdoch uses the phrase "with all due respect" to point out that such heavy-handed tactics are unlikely to work and urges they follow the evidence instead of going after every criminal in the city.
- In "Loch Ness Murdoch", Inspector Brackenreid has a very unusual moment and insists he saw a Stock Ness Monster. Detective Murdoch suspects that Inspector's love of whisky might be responsible and hints at it "with all due respect". But Inspector knows bloody well what he saw.
Used throughout an episode of The Wire entitled, naturally, "All Due Respect".
Barksdale crew member: Hey, yo, Omar. Yo, all due respect, but this right here, this a Barksdale joint, man.
Omar: Do tell.
Parodied (like everything else) in the pilot episode of Angie Tribeca, as an entire volley of these erupts between Tribeca, Geils, and Lt. Atkins when Tribeca objects to being given another partner.
Tribeca: With all due respect, sir, this is stupid. I don't want a partner. I don't need a partner.
Atkins: All due respect, Tribeca, but you've got your head up your ass. You're getting a partner.
Geils: All due respect, Lieutenant, but I feel very disrespected right now.
Atkins: All due respect, Detective, but I'm in charge here!
Tribeca: All due respect, no one cares about your feelings.
Geils: All due respect, you make a horrible first impression!
In the Law & Order episode "Gaijin," Lt. Van Buren talks to D.A. Arthur Branch. Van Buren isn't Branch's junior and does respect Branch, but she is uncertain about his scheme to get a Japanese suspect back to America. Branch says on the news an African-American suspect was caught, using the Japanese suspect's lie against him. Branch understands Van Buren's unease.
Van Buren: With all due respect, sir, I find this approach troubling.
Branch: It's okay. We're out of options. We gotta get this guy back here to answer for what he did.
Van Buren: I understand that, sir. But let me ask you something. Have you ever been stopped for driving in the wrong neighborhood?
Branch: No.
Van Buren: Well, I have. And what the public just saw was another black face connected to a terrible crime.
Branch: I hear what you're saying, Lieutenant, but I really think that this will work. The truth will come out, and everybody will know that he lied about what happened.
Van Buren: And if it doesn't?
Branch: Well, I guess the people of New York will get a chance to weigh in on that next election.
Averted between Barba and Rollins in the Law & Order: SVU episode "Devil's Dissection."
Barba: Rollins, all due respect...
Rollins: Don't start a sentence that way.
In "In the Line of Fur" from Turner & Hooch (2021), Scott Jr. makes Judge Nelson walk through a grungy back alley to enter the court following a threat on his life. He dislikes it, grumbling and asking if he's really going to shot by a sniper if he's not a filthy alley. Scott Jr. tells him that "With all due respect, sir, it's possible. Any of these tall structures could be a sniper location."
One challenge on Impractical Jokers requires the Jokers to say "No disrespect..." and follow it up with something disrespectful.
Lucifer (2016): When Chloe meets God in season 5, the first thing she does is chew him out for being a terrible father to Lucifer, but she keeps interjecting "with respect" during her tongue-lashing.
In "Electric Sheep" from The Orville, Captain Mercer wants Ensign Burke to help revive Isaac, who has committed suicide. When he tells her that Isaac is their only link to the Kaylon, she replies that "with all due respect," she doesn't know what he thinks he's going to get out of Isaac, like maybe a secret Kaylon code that changes the entire game.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024): Lieutenant Ji prefaces himself with this toward Iroh before letting lose with exactly why he dislikes Zuko so much. Understandable, since he could easily be executed for speaking so out of turn.

Newspaper Comics

An arc of Dilbert had the employees realize that if they insulted the boss after saying With Due Respect, he'd accept it as constructive criticism no matter what.
Pointy-Haired Boss: Alice, I've noticed a disturbing pattern. Your solutions to problems are always the thing you try last.
Alice: With all due respect, are you using your skull to store old rags or what?!
Pointy-Haired Boss: It's a good thing you said "with all due respect".
- In the very next strip, Alice relates this information to the others, and Wally takes advantage of it by asking "With all due respect, is that your face or is a monkey climbing down your neck backwards?"
- And in another strip:
  Dilbert: "I...I'd like permission to keep a plastic plant in my cubicle."
  Cubicle Police: "Permission denied! Plants attract bugs. If I can't tell it's plastic how are the bugs going to know the difference?"
  Dilbert: "With all due respect, bugs are way smarter than you."
  Cubicle Police: "Oh yeah? I'd like to see them do this job!"
  - See the strips in question [1].
Played with occasionally in Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe. In one strip an officer is dating a sergeant's daughter; the sergeant announces, "And if she's not back by midnight, there'll be a baseball bat waiting ... Sir."

Puppet Shows

In "Home Is Where the Bear Is" from Bear in the Big Blue House, when Bear states to the viewer that the best part of his kitchen his table where he can eat a mess of cooked and buttered string beans, Tutter tells him with all due respect, "With all due respect, Bear," that he's missing the best things about his kitchen.

Radio

In Old Harry's Game, Scumspawn starts a sentence with "with respect" when protesting about being disintegrated, and Satan calls it "a meaningless form of words that people use just before they tell you you're talking bollocks". The Professor then says Satan is only disintegrating Scumspawn because he feels threatened by a demon growing as an individual, to which Satan replies "Well, with respect..."

Theater

There's a song about this in The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd called "With All Due Respect."
Forgive my presumption,
I know that you're a gentleman,
A slightly temp'ramental man,
A man of intellect,
But I suspect
That your neglect
Is largely why my health is wrecked.
No ifs or buts,
I hate your guts,
With all due respect.
In the Mrs. Hawking play series, the maidservant Mary Stone is the moral voice for most of the story, and it is seen as a big deal when she challenges her social betters on their fallacies and failings. Part of her character journey is overcoming her socialization to stay silent and invisible to speak out when she feels it's important.

Video Games

Played straight and lampshaded in Mass Effect. Despite her own opinion of the line, Ashley uses it when asking Shepard about giving aliens free run of the Normandy (although she *is* interested in Shep's response).
- The hilarious thing is that the page quote is when Ashley was arguing with a superior — Lt. Kaidan only prefaced his remarks with the 'all due respect' line because he's excessively polite.
  - Ashley will even tell Shepard 'with all due respect' at the beginning of the game (when talking to her on the Normandy prior to arriving on the Citadel) as a preface of telling them that they're selling themselves too short if Shepard has the War Hero background and tries to downplay their actions.
- Even more humorously, the next time Commander Shepard confronts the Citadel Council, Shepard also uses the phrase "with all due respect" in what may very well be an intentional callback to Ashley's previous remark (or a bit of a Tear Jerker if Ashley was the one left behind on Virmire).
- Meanwhile, Liara uses the phrase in an early conversation. However, Liara is a Shrinking Violet at this point, so she legitimately is trying to be respectful.
- In Mass Effect 2, you can use this line on the quarian Admiralty Board.
- In the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut ending, Ashley drops a "with all due respect" on Shepard if she's part of the squad that get airlifted out by the Normandy.
In Ratchet & Clank, Dr. Nefarious' butler, Lawrence, does this all the time, sometimes to the point of making subtle insults about how stupid Nefarious can act sometimes. (And Nefarious never gets the hint.)
When Captain Saladin says this to Abdul Alhazred in King's Quest VI, he very much means "If the princess orders me, I will tear your throat out. Literally and gladly."
Played for comedic effect in Company of Heroes. When ordering a Riflesquad to attack an enemy Tank, one of the responses is "With all due respect sir, are you high?".
Halo:
- Lampshaded in Halo: Combat Evolved's "The Truth and Reconciliation" section "Shut up and get behind me... Sir."
- Played straight in Halo 4 when the Master Chief is arguing with Captain Del Rio about their next course of action:
  Chief: With all due respect, sir, I know what I saw.
- And towards the end:
  Del Rio: I am ordering you... to surrender that AI!
  Chief: No, sir.
In World of Warcraft, Taoshi gives a statement like this during the "To the Skies" quest, after telling Jaina or Lor'thermar that the weapons of the Thunder King are "abominable" and should be destroyed. The respective faction leaders respond that the weapons will be destroyed once their faction has studied how the Mogu make their weapons.
- Gao-Ran says this to Taran Zhu, leader of the Shado-Pan, when Taran suggests Gao-ran has "grown lax" in his defenses. Gao-ran says his men are overextended in the face of the Mantid attack and suggests withdrawing to the Serpent's Spine. Taran refuses, but has the player help Gao-ran out and promises reinforcements.
In the first level of StarCraft, one of your marines will say this before telling you that he doesn't think you know what you're doing, and promptly gives you a rundown on basic game mechanics.
Fallout 2: If you become Captain in Vault City, Sergeant Stark will ask for "permission to speak freely" and tell you that you don't deserve the job. Notably he'll say this even if you don't give him permission.
Sequence 6 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable has Stern the Destructor ordering Levi the Slasher to propose an alliance with the heroes on their behalf since it's their best chance to defeat the Unbreakable Dark. When her Lord Dearche, who hates the heroes with a deep passion, starts to voice her displeasure at Stern in the angriest way that she can for even suggesting that, Stern responds by telling her lord and king to "Please shut up, Dearche" in a completely calm and polite tone and manner.
In ARMA 3, Kerry often uses this to question Miller's actions. At the end of Survive, Miller notices and says something along the lines of "You keep saying 'with all due respect,' then follow it with something disrespectful." Kerry apologizes, but tries again only for Miller to cut him off with a "you're doing it again."
In The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, after Instructor Sara Valestein outlines the basic details of Class VII at the start of the first game, Machias informs her...
Machias: And with all due respect, instructor, it's ludicrous to intermix nobles and commoners like this!
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow adds a new radio contact in Dermot Brunton, an inter-agency liaison between the CIA and Third Echelon, who talks Sam through his missions in much the same way Lambert does. Reading the in-game file about him makes it clear that Grímsdóttir is the only person on the team who can even tolerate his presence, as demonstrated when Sam's first response to anything he says is prefixed by "with some due respect", before basically telling him to shut up and let Lambert do the talking.

Webcomics

Schlock Mercenary provides the page image, from this strip.
In Tales of the Questor, when trying to argue that a pollutant must be dealt with because it is not one isolated case.
The Order of the Stick: Persuading Hinjo that he should leave, his city having already passed In Its Hour of Need, even though "it isn't really my place to say."
- With all due respect, we have a system for deciding such things -- one presided over by ACTUAL beings of pure Law and Good
Erfworld: Duncan urges a new path on Queen Jillian
Underling: Lazarus admits to Ganesh, with all due respect, that if he were back home he would probably still argue that Ganesh does not exist.
Skin Horse is pretty informal to begin with, but Tip resorts to this anyway:
Tip: With respect, you can cram the regulations where the sun don't shine.
Sweetheart: That's not actually respectful!
Civilian version in Wondermark, where Gax manages to bookend a reference to a comment being offered in the spirit of friendship between two different insults. Amazingly, the person he's talking to doesn't seem to notice.
Gax: Jascobb, I hear you, and I understand your very dumb frustration. I hope you will take what I'm about to say in the spirit of friendship in which it is offered. I wasn't looking forward to spending the afternoon with you, but I've actually managed to bore myself into perceiving an all-new spectrum of idiot waves on the moron frequency band, so I'm really quite grateful that you suck this much.

Web Original

Critical Role has Caduceus, The Heart of the Mighty Nein, say a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Trent Ikkithon in Campaign 2. It looks like Caduceus is going to compliment Ikkithon before taking a left turn into an insult, and about how The Power of Love saves people and that Ikkithon is a fool for trying to control people through fear, and how Ikkithon giving into cynicism and hate is what makes him so lonely. It's enough to firmly rattle Ikkithon, as he gets up and leaves immediately after Caduceus gives the speech. Given the reaction by Ikkithon's servants, it's likely that no one had spoken that way to him in a long time. When Trent Ikkithon shows up at the home of Caduceus as the last encounter of the campaign, Trent Ikkithon is defeated in spite of his power, left to rot in a jail cell while being unable to move, cast spells, or do much of anything besides being force-fed to keep him alive. The Mighty Nein, meanwhile, each manage to Earn Their Happy Ending, including Trent's abused student Caleb.
Caduceus: Before you go, I think perhaps you are one of the most powerful mages that I've ever had the pleasure to be in the presence of, and for this, I would offer a gift. I think it has been a long time since anyone has pointed it out to you that you are a fool. Pain doesn't make people. It's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential. It's love that saves them. And you would know that, but you have none around you, you said so yourself, you surround yourself with lies and deceptions, and... I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn for you when you are gone. Respectfully.
Played for Comedy (like everything) in Manwhores with the ever uncouth Randy: "I mean this with the greatest amount of respect for your girlfriend, but she was a bitch with a capital cunt."
In If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device, Cato very blatantly wants to become Chapter Master as soon as possible. As the current Chapter Master Marneus Calgar promptly lampshades, he's effectively wishing Marneus to die at the earliest opportunity.
The "Philosophers East vs. West" episode of Epic Rap Battles of History has Sun Tzu, Confucius, and Laozi on one team - Sun Tzu employs a clever Batman Gambit to get the West team to bicker amongst themselves and gloats about the opportunity, then Laozi suddenly declares, "We must remember, a bowl is most useful when it is empty. Sun Tzu groans in frustration before retorting, "Laozi, I don't mean no disrespect^note, but you need to fill your bowl with some shit that makes some sense!" Cue the East Team falling apart in squabbling of their own.
The phrase "Do you accept Constructive Criticism?", in the hands of trolls using it as a meme, is a variant of this. Trolls usually try to defend themselves by saying the insults (end the work, kill themselves, etc.) are directly on level with the percieved quality of the the work, and therefore are the only true ways their targets will improve.
In Randy Rainbow's "Desperate Cheeto", he says "I mean no disrespect, but you're a big disgrace" to Trump.

Western Animation

Futurama
Joey Mousepad: With all due respect, Donbot, I don't think we should rely on an accident to happen. Let's kill him ourselves.
Spydor of Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys takes this trope and runs with it. He often adds a "And I mean that with all due respect" after scathing or sarcastic comments.
- Which is a reference to the stand-up act of Spydor's voice actor, Dom Irrera.
Used in an episode of Transformers: Animated with Optimus Prime to Ultra Magnus. In a variation, Sentinel Prime was not in the room, though Optimus was talking about him.
- Ditto with "But Sentinel-" "Is a glitch-head. All due respect."
Played with on The Simpsons with "Permission to say that's crazy, sir." He never does get permission...
In one of Family Guy's many cutaway gags, Cap'n Crunch wants a mob boss to order a hit on a rival cereal mascot for spreading damn lies! My cereal does not cut kids' mouths! ...with respect.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", Twilight Sparkle uses this on Princess Celestia when she brings Discord's statue to Ponyville and asks the mane six to reform him. And considering how highly Twilight thinks of Celestia, it really says something that Twi was willing to question her.
Twilight Sparkle: With all due respect, Princess Celestia, [shouts] HOW COULD YOU BRING DISCORD HERE?! [clears throat] Your majesty.
- There's also Wonderbolts Academy
Rainbow Dash: No disrespect, ma'am, but there's a big difference between pushing yourself as hard as you can and just being reckless. And if being reckless is what gets rewarded around here, if that's what it means to be a Wonderbolt, then I don't want any part of it.
The Hair Bear Bunch hits it big as rock band Three Bear Night (episode "Closed Circuit TV") and Peevly wants to be their manager. But Peevly's spur-of-the-moment contract gives him 75% of the bears' take, which he then ups to 90%.
Hair: With all due respect, sir...we'd rather not sign that.
Peevly: Oh, yeah? You'd better sign or you'll give your next performance in the north woods!
Hair: Okay, okay! We'll sign!
Col. Kit Coyote's sergeant on The Go-Go Gophers always says "Beggin' the colonel's pardon" when he questions the effectiveness of the Colonel's plans to get rid of the gophers.
Rick and Morty: In the pilot, Jerry Smith uses this phrase then corrects himself, since Rick isn't due any respect.
This sometimes comes up in the Babar series, but given that most of his subjects actually like Babar, this is one case where it's generally not meant meanly.

Real Life

Richard Feynman recounts how he got on the Manhattan Project. Having forgotten that he was talking to Niels Bohr, Feynman contradicted him. Bohr had him assigned because Feynman spoke his mind.
From the British military, the experienced sergeant not giving an order to a newly minted subaltern- "With all due respect sir, get yer fuckin' head down."
- In January 1941, the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious was being bombed to destruction by Axis aircraft. Throughout most of the engagement, the ship's resident Admiral stood on the exposed "goofing station" on the ship's bridge, bellowing defiance at the German and Italian bombers and yelling encouragement to the few British aircraft who were up there trying to fight them off. ^note This lasted until the admiral's personal sailor-servant - an enlisted rating - physically grabbed him by the belt and the scruff of the neck and dragged him to safety, shouting "will you come in, you stupid daft old bugger!"
Done by Joschka Fischer, member of the German Green Party, in 1984. Fischer, then member of the German Bundestag, addressed Richard Stücklen, then vice president of the Bundestag, who had suspended a party member of Fischer's: "With respect, Mr. President, you are an asshole."^{Original German quote} Fischer later became one of Germany's most popular—if not beloved—politicians, and was Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005).
"With all due respect, in the most unparliamentary language, fuck you Deputy Stagg. Fuck you." - Green Deputy Paul Gogarty to Labour Emmet Stagg on the floor of the Irish parliament, 12/11/09
In July 2010 the FBI sent a letter to Wikipedia demanding the removal of the FBI logo from the page about the FBI. The Wikipedia response denying the demand was signed "With all appropriate respect".
Excerpt of an old exchange from the 1980s between two small-town Brazilian politicians, registered in a judicial complaint: "...and if it happens to be convenient to you, Mr. Mayor, you could even go fuck yourself."
The famous British legal case of Arkell vs. Pressdram Ltd.:
Arkell's Legal Team: Our clients attitude to damages will be governed by the nature of your reply.
Pressdram's Legal Team: We acknowledge your letter of 29th April referring to Mr J. Arkell. We note that Mr Arkell's attitude to damages will be governed by the nature of our reply and would therefore be grateful if you would inform us what his attitude to damages would be, were he to learn that the nature of our reply is as follows: fuck off.
- And ever since then "He gave the reply from Arkell v. Pressdram" (or some variant thereof) has been part of Private Eye's extensive thesaurus of euphemisms/injokes.
Parodied by Bill Hicks, when he was talking about Ronald Reagan in one of his stand-ups: "Why don't you answer a question like a man, you fucking lying, B-actor, dickweed, Mr. President-sir, with all due respect."
Bill O’Reilly is angry with Stephen Colbert for mocking his efforts to auction off handwritten notes from his pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama. This is because, after O’Reilly announced the auction of the “historic” item, Colbert responded by auctioning off a microwave once used by the magnanimous O’Reilly himself. The feud has resulted in “a huge misunderstanding between me and my Broadcast life partner,” Colbert explained:
Bill did not see this as an homage, I wasn’t mocking you, I was celebrating you! Bill, with all due respect, you’re an idiot.
In the decorum of the American Courts, a distinction is observed between "with respect" and "with (all) due respect." When a lawyer says "with respect" to a judge (or another lawyer), this trope is not in play; the lawyer is just trying to be courteous ("With respect, Your Honor, we don't read Paragraph 22 that way"; "With respect, the State suggests Mr. Toto has confused the standard on appeal to the Appellate Division in an indictable case with the standard on appeal to the Law Division on a disorderly-persons offense."). On the other hand, "with (all) due respect" is synonymous with "I think you're an idiot": "With all due respect, the statute transparently does not say that for the following reasons..." Similarly, any phrase of the sort "we find the plaintiff's novel legal theory to be unsupported by the clear language of the statute in question" really means "we think this is a complete Ass Pull".
Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis' resignation letter to President Donald Trump was a thinly-veiled example of this following President Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria earlier that day.
In the Southern United States, people know if they hear "Well, bless your heart!", they're in for a verbal beatdown.

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With Due Respect

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