What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
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Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#2This is 100% accurate. I've seen someone apologizing for being stepped on (accidentally, of course). It really does mean "we have, unfortunately and inadvertently, crossed paths and must now ward off the evil spirits by acknowledging this".
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#3Oddly enough "sorry" is also quite common in the upper Midwest US. If I bump into someone else by accident, and it's my fault, they will reflexively say "sorry."
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#4[deleted]
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#5I’m in the US and definitely have heard these in similar situations.
Another I don’t think was listed is a way to blunt an aggressive statement just in case there may be a misunderstanding.
“WTF did you just say to me?”
Might be “Sorry, but WTF did you just say to me?” would imply some anger that could lead to a fight but hey, sorry maybe I misheard you?
Which could funny enough lead to more sorries “oh, sorry I thought you said something else”.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#6Oddly enough "sorry" is also quite common in the upper Midwest US. If I bump into someone else by accident, and it's my fault, they will reflexively say "sorry."
Yeah, this would read just as well for the upper midwest. Although "Ope!" is also interchangeable with sorry in a lot of situations.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#7I’m in the US and definitely have heard these in similar situations. Another I don’t think was listed is a way to blunt an aggressive statement just in case there may be a misunderstanding. “WTF did you just say to me?” Might be “Sorry, but WTF did you just say to me?” would imply some anger that could lead to a fight but hey, sorry maybe I misheard you? Which could funny enough lead to more sorries “oh, sorry I thou…
"Sorry, I thought I heard you say _____, but that's all an unfortunate misunderstanding because otherwise you're in deep shit, right?"
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#8Oddly enough "sorry" is also quite common in the upper Midwest US. If I bump into someone else by accident, and it's my fault, they will reflexively say "sorry."
From Green Bay to Dickinson, the complete utterance is “Op Sorry.” If one is not in a hurry it is sometimes “Oops, Sorry.”
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#9I’m a Brit. It was only after living overseas that I realised just how mad our use of “sorry” can be.
An example. One day I was on the tube. My bag was on the seat next to me. A bloke gets on, points at my bag and says “sorry”.
What he actually meant, was “move your bag”.
The thing is, if he had said something so direct, I would have said “sorry, what did you say to me?”
And on and on…
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#10'Sorry' serves the same purpose as 'excuse me', 'yeah' or 'okay' in that it has a multitude of meanings depending on tone, intonation and context.
For instance 'yeah' can mean 'yes, continue', agreement, skepticism, (sarcastic) disagreement, enthusiasm, etc.
The cultural difference is what word is most commonly used.