If to have respect for something is to admire it, then why do we say "I respect your opinion?" I could respect someone saying I believe there is a God, but I could not respect someone saying " I believe black people should be burnt at the stake." It's not so much respecting someone's opinion as it is tolerating it for the sake of argument. I can't respect a world view in which people are treated as subhuman because of someone's personal opinion, so is there a more appropriate term we could use?
I think it's overused by people who want to be overly nice...Every girl that I've told that I'm Gay, always say "I respect your decision." Sometimes I feel that they're just being nice, and at the back of their minds they're thinking, "That's just wrong." I never use the word unless I REALLY mean it...
"Your opinion is a legal right, but I find it utterly detestable and I will not respect your refusal to respect my existence". Don't be sweet about it. Don't lie. To acknowledge that they have the right to have an opinion doesn't mean you have to let it pass without criticism or be considered equal to your own.
I used to hear so much of "Respect Yo!" Other than that I hardly hear it, I myself don't use it much. Not that I don't respect others, I just haven't had the need to say it.
If someone expresses an opinion that's abhorrent to me, I will usually say 'I disagree with your opinion, but I respect your right to hold it." I think that's a better and more precise way to express the sentiment. I agree that stating respect for an opinion you disagree with is probably not a very accurate use of the term.
Agreed, the word is overused because people often have a hard time saying what's really on their minds.
OMG I just used the word a second before in another thread, that is psychic LoL In my experience in real life the people who use it intensively the one who are condescending other human but want to appear polite.
Respect comes from the Latin for "to look back at, regard". I think that's a good way of describing respect: to regard something as it is without judgment. But, I also think respect is about reciprocity. Anything that violates the golden rule is false respect (disrespect).
So overused. It is a quality to be earned, not merely given. The word people should be using is "polite". An etiquette than will help everyone get through the world peacefully.