far be it from me to do something, but...

far be it from me to (do something)

It is not my place to do or say the particular thing stated after "to." The phrase, which is almost always followed by "but," is used as an introduction before saying or doing that very thing. Far be it from me to tell you how much to work on this report, but do you really think it's thorough enough?See also: far

far be it from me to do something, but...

(informal) used when you are just about to disagree with somebody or criticize them and you would like them to think that you do not really want to do this: Far be it from me to interfere, but don’t you think you’ve been arguing for long enough?See also: far