There’s absolutely no reason to say “no offense” before you say something. The phrase itself implies that you’re about to say something offensive, so why say it? If you’re worried about offending someone, stay quiet and it’s not a problem. “No offense” doesn’t help anything when you’re saying something blatantly rude.

People often use phrases like this to try and cover up the fact that they’re just saying something mean. I think that instead of covering up the rudeness, you should just avoid it. 

It feels like people are so okay with saying unkind things to others, when we really do not need any extra hate in the world. Saying “no offense” is nothing but a sorry attempt at softening the blow of something you’re about to say. 

If they actually cared about making you feel bad, they wouldn’t say anything unless it’s something that absolutely needs to be addressed, in which case they would try and sugarcoat it another way. 

Instead of telling someone not to take offense to something, you’re just announcing that you’re about to say something offensive, which does not make it any less offensive. 

The same problem lies with the phrase “not to be rude”. You’re not cancelling out the rudeness by acknowledging that it’s rude. All saying that does is draw more attention to the fact that you couldn’t keep your mouth shut about something. 

The problem isn’t the sugarcoating of something that could potentially make someone feel bad, it’s the vocalizing these thoughts that are indeed offensive.

Sugarcoating is absolutely necessary sometimes when there’s something that needs to be addressed, but putting “no offense” in front of something will not change how anyone feels about it. 

If you can’t make it sound nicer without saying “no offense”, that is a clear sign that it shouldn’t be said.