Jon

Yes, I'm also pretty well impartial and I've observed the same. It's pretty unsubtle to be honest, so I don't think it's likely to do more than a minimum of harm but I can't really understand the kind of bitterness which seems to underline the mock "concerned enquiries" (I don't mean the occasional genuine ones).

It's alien to me, particularly in a folk context.

Perhaps they'll just stop doing it.

:-)