speaker from whatever foul they may have committed. In other words, drop the subject, get
off the hook.
2 Beat around the bush
Jane Austen is a master of poking fun at her characters so
euphemistically that it seems almost polite, and the passive
voice is one of her favorite methods for doing that.
Example: “[He] pressed them so cordially to dine at Barton Park every
day till they were better settled at home that, though his entreaties were
carried to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they could not give offense.”
—Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
Austen could have rephrased this sentence like so:
“Though Mr. Middleton carried his entreaties to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they
could not give offense.”
Though maybe she means something closer to:
“Mr. Middleton pushed his invitations beyond the point of politeness and into pushiness, but
he still meant well.”
In cases like this, the passive voice allows for more polite
phrasing, even if it’s also a little less clear.
3 Make your reader pay more attention to the something