# What does the government mean when they say they are 'deeply concerned' about human rights abuses **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784 "2016-08-24T02:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/1 "2016-08-24T02:37:02Z")
I hear this term a lot when a foreign country commits an abuse of its citizens. The US government will say they are ‘deeply concerned’. What does that mean? Does that mean the government wants to go on record being against something, but have no desire to get involved? Does it mean if things continue, the US will start pushing for economic sanctions? ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/2 "2016-08-24T05:38:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I hear this term a lot when a foreign country commits an abuse of its citizens. The US government will say they are ‘deeply concerned’. What does that mean? > > \*\*Does that mean the government wants to go on record being against something, but have no desire to get involved? > \*\* > Does it mean if things continue, the US will start pushing for economic sanctions? Though there may be other reasons, I think your second sentence nails it on the head. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/3 "2016-08-24T20:14:07Z")
It means “My minions are telling me that there are many potential donors citizens who are seemingly very concerned about his particular thing or things like it and are making discontented noises in the streets. My publicist thought it best to have a photo op and speech where I say things about this to make the donors voters think really do I care when I really just want to get back to “interviewing” my intern.” Me? Jaded? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/4 "2016-08-24T21:31:01Z")
It means the same thing as “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” i.e. Nothing ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/5 "2016-08-24T21:35:54Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > It means the same thing as “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” i.e. Nothing Exactly so. It’s a means of getting positive attention by showing concern without having to actually do something. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/6 "2016-08-25T09:12:55Z")
“We’d rather you guys would stop doing that, m’kay?” Or maybe that’s if the gumment is merely “concerned” and “deeply concerned” means the SSGNs are on the way to their “fail safe” point. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-government-mean-when-they-say-they-are-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-abuses/763784/7 "2016-08-25T09:24:17Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > Last edited by Doctor Jackson; Yesterday at 09:19 PM… Reason: What happened to the [s] code? You need to use the [noparse][del] and [/del][/noparse] codes instead.