On 10/18/2014 07:14 AM, Reindl Harald wrote:

Am 18.10.2014 um 09:10 schrieb Miroslav Suchy:
On 10/17/2014 08:31 PM, Matthew Miller wrote:
You can say something like "I'm not sure I understand the point you are
making. Particularly, I don't see how __________ follows. Can you explain
that in more depth?"

And conversely, if you feel like your position isn't being listened to, try
"I guess I'm not making myself very clear. Let me try to restate.... Does
this make more sense?"

Ha Ha. I heard exactly that from my English teacher several weeks ago.
For myself, this is cultural difference too. I would never use such
wording in my native language. (Disclaimer: I'm not targeting the
original thread, but disagreement in general)

+1

nobody i know in real life talks that way, really nobody, never
Harald,

I totally disagree---most people I know, including myself, often talk like that. Maybe
that's because I am married :).

Another phrase that I found to be very effective at avoiding emotions in arguments is
'There's another way of looking at this'.

Remember how in the old times people used to be exquisitely polite to each other?
It occurred to me that the primary reason for those courtly manners was that everyone
had an enormous sword at their side. I think it's not  a bad idea to treat other people
with respect equal to what you'll grant them if they were armed.