Think about the times when you have to express agreement or disagreement with someone’s point of view. Chances are, you encounter such situations multiple times a day. Today, we’re going to look at some handy expressions that can make this process smoother and easier—especially when it comes to disagreement. Read on and get ready to navigate both formal and informal settings with confidence.
A Typical Day at the Office
Context: Two software engineers, Mia and Daniel, are discussing work-related topics during a typical day at work. The conversation focuses on a code review of a recent pull request (PR), planning tasks for the upcoming sprint, and balancing feature development with bug fixing and resource management.
❗Some software engineering terms are listed below the dialog. Also, some advanced vocabulary is rephrased in brackets within the dialog itself. While this vocabulary is worth noting and remembering, it’s not directly related to expressing agreement or disagreement, so we won’t focus on it much in this article.
Mia: Hey, I had a chance to go through your PR from yesterday. I really like how you refactored the authentication flow—much cleaner now.
Daniel: Thanks! I figured it was overdue. The old logic was getting pretty tangled.
Mia: Totally agree (1). That part was turning into a bit of a spaghetti mess. That said, I’m not entirely on board with (1) switching the session timeout to 15 minutes. Was there a particular reason for that change?
Daniel: Yeah, I bumped it up (= increased it) based on feedback from the customer success team. They mentioned users were getting logged out too quickly during onboarding demos.
Mia: I hear you (2)—but 15 minutes might be overkill (= excessive, too long) from a security standpoint, especially since we’re handling sensitive data. What about meeting halfway at 10?
Daniel: That’s a good middle ground (3). I can live with that (4).
Mia: Cool. Oh, and on the topic of the upcoming sprint—you suggested pulling in the new reporting dashboard (= you suggested including the new dashboard in the upcoming sprint instead of a later one). Are you sure we have the bandwidth (= time, energy, capacity) for that?
Daniel: Honestly, I think it’s tight, but doable. We’ve already done the groundwork (= preparatory work, initial steps) in the last sprint. It’s mostly UI at this point.
Mia: Hmm, I’m a bit skeptical (2). We’ve still got two high-priority bugs that haven’t been touched, and I’d hate to see those get deprioritized again.
Daniel: Fair enough (5). How about we flag (= mark) the dashboard as stretch work (= as optional extra work)? If the team gets ahead, we can pull it in (= move it up in the schedule, add it to this sprint)—but no pressure if we don’t get to it.
Mia: That sounds reasonable (6). Appreciate you being flexible on that.
Daniel: Of course. Always happy to adjust if it keeps the team sane.
Mia: Ha, agreed (7). Let’s lock it in for planning, then (= let’s confirm/finalize the plan so it won’t change, let’s make it official).
Some Software Engineering-Related Terms From the Dialog 🖥️
- A pull request – a proposed change to a codebase that a developer submits for review and approval before it gets merged into the main project
- A sprint – in Agile software development it is a short, time-boxed period (usually 1 to 4 weeks) during which a software team works to complete a specific set of tasks or features
- Authentication flow – the sequence of steps a user goes through to log in, sign up, or prove their identity in a system (to refactor the authentication flow means to reorganize or improve it)
- A session timeout – the amount of time a user can stay logged in and inactive before the system automatically logs them out for security reasons
- Onboarding – the process of helping new users or customers get started with a product or service
- A reporting dashboard – a visual interface that displays key data and metrics in real time (or near-real time) to help users track performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions
- UI (user interface) – the part of the software that users interact with—what they see and click on
As you can see, Mia and Daniel are on quite friendly terms, and their interaction is fairly informal. The language they use reflects this. Below, you can find phrases they use for agreeing and disagreeing with each other, as well as some noteworthy synonyms.
Phrases For Agreeing
- Totally agree = absolutely; I couldn’t agree more; for sure; definitely; no doubt about that; exactly; I’m with you on that; couldn’t have said it better myself; spot on; right on; that’s exactly how I see it; you’re absolutely right; you nailed it; I see it the same way; that makes perfect sense to me; I back that up; I second that
- I hear you = I get/see where you’re coming from; I see what you mean; fair enough; that makes sense; point take; I get that
- That’s a good middle ground = that’s a fair compromise; that sounds like a reasonable balance; that’s a solid middle point; that seems like an acceptable trade-off; that may be a good halfway solution; that strikes a good balance; feels like a good meeting point
- I can live with that = that works for me; I’m fine with that; I’m good with that; sounds good to me
- Fair enough = I hear you; you’ve got a point; point taken; makes sense; I get that
- That sounds reasonable = that makes sense; sounds fair; that works for me; that seems fair enough
- Agreed = totally; absolutely; you said it; exactly; no argument here; right there with you; couldn’t agree more; couldn’t have put it better
Phrases For Disagreeing
- I’m not entirely on board with (the switch to 15 minutes) = I’m not quite feeling the switch to 15 minutes; I’m not totally behind the idea; not sure I’m 100% on board with the 15-minute timeout; I’m a little iffy (= uncertain, doubtful) about switching it to 15 minutes
- I’m a bit skeptical = I have some doubts; I’m not sure I’m fully on board; I’m not so sure about that; I’ve got my doubts; I’m a little unsure; that’s a bit iffy to me; feels a little risky to me
Proposing a Compromise
At one point, Mia proposes a compromise with the phrase “What about meeting halfway at 10?” How else can we suggest a middle-ground solution that both sides can accept? Let’s take a look.
- What about meeting halfway at 10? = Maybe we can find a middle ground—say, 10 minutes?; Could we meet in the middle at 10?; Let’s try something in between—how does 10 sound?; Would 10 be a fair middle point?; What if we land on 10 as a compromise?; How about we split the difference and go with 10?
We hope you’ve found this article useful. Next time you need to agree or disagree with someone you’re on friendly terms with, you’ll be fully prepared—equipped with a bunch of handy phrases. Just remember, these expressions are on the informal side. Stay tuned for more formal language! 😉
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