Minnesota Nice

Fake, phony pretense of niceness toward someone for the purpose of avoiding confrontation or conflict but then proceeding to use sneaky, dirty, backstabbing tactics to attack the person behind their back. I grew up in other cities in the Midwest, where people were open and honest about disagreements and expressed them readily but then often remained friendly and respectful and "agreed to disagree." Here in Minnesota, where I have spent almost all of my adult life, I've never gotten used to the venomous subterfuge and lying hidden under a thick layer of phony "nice."