out is the jury on this one....

I'm thinking it may be a way to ameliorate what you say, so as not to cause undue offense, as in the rising intonation at the end of a sentence, apparently originating in Oz but having gained widespread use(age) among American teen-age girls in the last decade....(?*) ['awaiting wet-noodle flogging' emoticon]

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*insert rising intonation here