Confusing ‘cordial’ and ‘civil’

[IgneousSedimentary]

I first noticed this on that long-running recent thread posted by the grandfather who got into an altercation with his grandson’s father at Christmas dinner, and said he was no longer going to be ‘warm and friendly’ to him, only ‘cordial’. Several people pointed out that he meant ‘civil’, but he kept saying he was going to downgrade his behaviour from ‘friendly’ to ‘cordial’.

I thought this was just one poster, but I’ve just noticed it again on a thread about a school mum being unfriendly. The OP went to speak to her but she wasn’t friendly back, just ‘cordial’, and another posted echoed the same usage, saying ‘Just be cordial back’.

Is this just a few Mners, or widespread? I’d never noticed it before.

What a strange jump to deciding people are confused.

Maybe he actually meant cordial?

"Cordial" connotes a formal, but not unfriendly relationship. "Friendly" implies a warmer, more intimate relationship

I think 'cordial' is a bit warmer than 'civil'.

Just looked it up in the OED, and I think the OP is right.

Cordial: warm and friendly
Civil: courteous and polite

You are cordially invited … warmly invited to a nice evening soirée
you are civilly invited… doesn’t really exist or if it does sounds like you’re invited to the opening of a concrete eyesore

Cordial means friendly but civil. Maybe business-like would be a good synonym?

Civil to me means barely polite. Cordial is fairly amicable but restrained.

Cordial is pleasant, warm and friendly. Civil would be more formal and detached, but polite. In the examples given, on balance, it sounds like they are being mixed up.