[mark_undoio]

Speaking as a Brit, our national trait is generally too understate things. So even saying what you mean, directly, comes off as a bit immodest and hyping it up in sales pitches sounds shady.

Americans generally say what they mean a bit more, so I think their mid point is just different.

[TheOtherHobbes]

We do say what we mean, it's just either carefully coded in mutual assured understatement, or buried under expletive-laden exaggeration.

Any native knows that "Interesting, but perhaps we should reconsider" means "You're an idiot and I don't understand how you ever learned to breathe."

The pinnacle is "Not bad", which can mean either deep approval or blistering contempt, depending on tone of voice.

It drives foreigners insane. But of course it's not our fault if they never learned English.

[mft_]

Speaking as a Brit, I couldn’t disagree more. I have no trouble understanding a wide variety of Europeans in a corporate environment, but sometimes struggle to even understand the basics of what Americans are trying to communicate, let alone the nuances of their position.

It’s like ‘American corporate’ is a totally different language that I don’t speak. The words sound the same, but that’s about it.

[wpm]

This is true for a lot of Americans too. God help me if I have to sit and listen to my CEO talk about anything and have to explain it to someone afterwards. It's just Buzzword Buzzword Agentic Buzzword Great Buzzword Exciting Buzzword Future Buzzword Growth Buzzword Great Great Great Exciting Exciting Exciting Buzzword.