"To be fair" means...

The phrase "to be fair" is used a lot here. At first, I thought it was just a bit of filler. I thought it meant "let's not forget". I think I'm learning that it actually comes with a fairly heavy condescending tone to it. That tone isn't always intended, but it's there. It seems to mean somewhere between "you're not looking at the bigger picture" and "you're an idiot" :) I'm going to choose to live in a bit of a positive bubble and continue thinking it comes with a positive tone, somewhere near "let's not forget" :)