Jose "Quite Frankly" Baez

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AlwaysShocked

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Is there a statement analysis person who reads here? If so, what in the world does the speech pattern of Jose Baez while arguing his motions indicate? At first I found his insertion of "quite frankly" here, there, and everywhere to be merely annoying.

But at this point, I am wondering - given the context in which it is being said time and time again - if it does not give us some clues into the thinking patterns of Mr. Baez?

I am not trying to be snarky here. I think this is could be significant.

I have asked myself how often and when do I use the phrase "quite frankly"?
My answer is "not too often". And when I do use the phrase, I would say that it usually prefaces some "unpleasant truth". As in "Quite frankly, yes, those slacks DO make your butt look wide" or "Well, since you asked for an honest opinion, quite frankly, I liked the longer hair on you rather than this man-style, extremely short hair cut".

And then there was the famous Rhett Butler "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn............"

Any comments?

And if possible, quite frankly, I would love to hear from an experienced statement analyst.
 
LOL - Funny - but I can see you are serious.

I always thought it was because Baez was stalling for time and organizing his thoughts because he knew what he was saying was probably not substantial.
 
IMO, it is slightly better than um...

But, seriously, I see what you are getting at...I use it before a statement of hard to say truth as well...or when I am being snarky and quoting Rhett
 
It seems he is just not very eloquent or well spoken. "Quite frankly" seems to be used to sound more honest or make more of an impact on his speech. It could also be a leftover from Spanish. Francamente is used more often in the spanish language to add emphasis to statements. moo
 
I think it is just a term that he picked up somewhere. It means "honestly". Since he speaks Spanish, I am curious to know if there is a common Spanish phrase that he is interpreting into English to suffice.

BTW, no snarky comments or this thread will be abducted.
 
I think that it is very similar to the use of "With utmost respect ....." which is usually a setup for a criticism.

It is a preface to try to emphasize and highlight what you are about to say should be taken very seriously and you are speaking openly and directly [bottom-line] but its use can have the opposite effect -- especially with overuse which renders it moot.

In France, 'the language of diplomacy', the phrase "Tu as raison mais" is typically used [You are right, but .....] where the speaker agrees at first, pauses and then goes on at length to completely disagree.
 
manatee said:
It seems he is just not very eloquent or well spoken. "Quite frankly" seems to be used to sound more honest or make more of an impact on his speech. It could also be a leftover from Spanish. Francamente is used more often in the spanish language to add emphasis to statements. moo
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We posted at the same time! Thanks for the look into Spanish!
 
Kimster said:
I think it is just a term that he picked up somewhere. It means "honestly". Since he speaks Spanish, I am curious to know if there is a common Spanish phrase that he is interpreting into English to suffice.

BTW, no snarky comments or this thread will be abducted.
Click to expand...

LOL, Kimster you beat me to it. I think he just picked up the saying, maybe from Casey, who knows? I know that I picked up the word, absolutely, from Casey and had to break myself from using the irritating word in my posts. Now, I hope I don't "backslide" again.............dang.
 
Kimster said:
I think it is just a term that he picked up somewhere. It means "honestly". Since he speaks Spanish, I am curious to know if there is a common Spanish phrase that he is interpreting into English to suffice.

BTW, no snarky comments or this thread will be abducted.
Click to expand...

yes. one can say "francamente" or "pare serles franco" meaning to be frank... not really honestly. Honestly is "honestamente." but it is probably part of his "spanglish" or Miami talk.
(i am from Miami, and cuban...no, I'm not even remotely related to Baez. no worries)
 
Personally, I think he uses the phrase because he thinks it makes his argument sound more powerful and definitive and it's just become an idiosyncrasy. Unfortunately for him, it will/has become an annoyance and detracts from whatever point he's trying to make.


OT... while attending a trial a while back, it was the Judge's pet peeve when an attorney began with, "would you agree that..." or "isn't it true that...". It was so ingrained with one of the attorneys that he just couldn't help himself. Every time he did it, the Judge would glare at him or sternly correct him. Wasn't long before he was reduced to a bumbling idiot. Totally destroyed him. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but he was on the 'other' side. A tough lesson for him not to rely on a certain style.
 
manatee said:
It seems he is just not very eloquent or well spoken. "Quite frankly" seems to be used to sound more honest or make more of an impact on his speech. It could also be a leftover from Spanish. Francamente is used more often in the spanish language to add emphasis to statements. moo
Click to expand...
This is a reasonable explanation, imo.
 
Turnadot said:
This is a reasonable explanation, imo.
Click to expand...

I, too, think that's where he's getting 'quite frankly'. There's been another word or two he uses a lot of at times, and I thought it was for the same reason (that he uses it a lot when speaking Spanish so he uses it in English as well). Now I can't remember what those words are! Dang it!
 
Well thank you all. I was not aware of the Spanish language word pattern. Still would love to hear from someone who has studied statement analysis.

And speaking of linguistics, and this may get this link closed, I realize. But is anyone else here watching the HBO miniseries, "The Pacific"?

It is a 10 part miniseries about the World War II battles that took place in the Pacific Ocean. Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, etc. It is really good.
 
Kimster said:
I think it is just a term that he picked up somewhere. It means "honestly". Since he speaks Spanish, I am curious to know if there is a common Spanish phrase that he is interpreting into English to suffice.

BTW, no snarky comments or this thread will be abducted.
Click to expand...

There goes my suggestion for the "Quite Frankly" drinking game. :)
 
I believe it is just a speech tic he has picked up and now an ingrained habit. One of my co-workers says "quite honestly" roughly 10,001 times a day....

From reading I have done, experts say that when someone says "quite honestly" or "quite frankly" it is a red flag and indicates that much of what else they say is NOT frank or honest and subconsciously they are drawing attention to what they really want you to believe. But I do not think my co-worker is inherently dishonest much of the time, but rather has lazy speech habits.
 
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