“It was like listening to two ancient dragons talking to each other with the help of an even older book of etiquette written by nuns.”

Pratchett, Terry. Unseen Academicals : a Novel of Discworld. NY: Harper, 2009, p. 208

Comment: Passive aggressive arguments are like this: absurd when you think about them. It might look and sound like polite discussion, but everyone knows it is petty and rank.