One man's frankness is another man's vulgarity.

The remark points to the relativity of social norms: what one person experiences as honest, plain-spoken candor can be received by someone else as crude, tasteless, or disrespectful. It highlights how judgments about speech are shaped by audience, culture, class, and setting, not just by the speaker’s intent. In practice, the line functions as a caution about communication—“telling it like it is” is not a universal virtue, and claims of frankness can sometimes mask insensitivity. At the same time, it suggests that accusations of vulgarity may reflect the listener’s expectations as much as the speaker’s behavior.