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What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
41–50 of 122 posts
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#42[flagged]
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, this would read just as well for the upper midwest. Although "Ope!" is also interchangeable with sorry in a lot of situations.
This is use in Australia and is short for ”oops, sorry about that” .
"Ope" is in use in Australia? Sandgroper here and I've never heard it before. Is it only in certain cities, or a generational / social group thing? Or do I just need to get away from screens more often?
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#44Meanwhile in America:
Can The Family Have a Good Time Playing Sorry? | The Carol Burnett Show Clip
https://youtu.be/_uBib8TatmA?t=397
You should also wink after ringing the little bell.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I grew up in the states with a close friend whose parents are both from the UK and she's the only person I've known to say "I beg your pardon" with regularity. Is that a British/UK English thing too? I never hear/read it used otherwise but it seems more succinct and "proper" to me. Mentioning it because I'm actually slightly surprised to see the "sorry, what did you say" usage here and in the article because it seems…
I'm American and I've heard Americans say "I beg your pardon", but like you I've always thought of it as a slightly proper (maybe WASP-y) idiom. People frequently say "excuse me", "sorry?", or "say again?". At least I do. Maybe I should get my ears checked.
I'm familiar with the expression but if an American said that to me, I'd probably think it meant "rethink what you just said".
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#46Oddly 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 I'm from Kansas and none of these meanings were new to me.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is use in Australia and is short for ”oops, sorry about that” .
"Ope" is in use in Australia? Sandgroper here and I've never heard it before. Is it only in certain cities, or a generational / social group thing? Or do I just need to get away from screens more often?
It’s probably just me. Tend to pick up things I’ve heard once somewhere.
On the other hand, I hadn’t heard sandgroper before and had to search to find out it meant Western Australian. Although, I definitely don’t get out much.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#48Oddly 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."
In Los Angeles, its the same in person, in a car it's the finger. (Unfortunately)
A hippie driving a VW Microbus leaned out the window and flashed me a peace sign, so I gave him half a peace sign in response.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
The I'm sorry (that someone died) is easy to explain as it's obviously connected to the word sorrow. The hardest is "sorry?" (I didn't understand or hear you)
It's easy to explain, but her language (Vietnamese) has no relation to English other than forced adoption of the Latin alphabet, so she wouldn't see that connection. "Sorry" is most commonly translated as "xin lỗi" which literally means something like "request forgiveness". It's connected exclusively to the notion of fault, not sadness. The real issue is that sorry xin lỗi is a ubiquitous but poor translation, becaus…
I speak Urdu (another South Asian language). If you asked someone the meaning of sorry in Urdu they would always say "ma'afi/ma'af karna" which is very strictly "asking forgiveness" although it "can" be used as "I didnt hear you / come again" literally nobody ever uses it that way
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I grew up in the states with a close friend whose parents are both from the UK and she's the only person I've known to say "I beg your pardon" with regularity. Is that a British/UK English thing too? I never hear/read it used otherwise but it seems more succinct and "proper" to me. Mentioning it because I'm actually slightly surprised to see the "sorry, what did you say" usage here and in the article because it seems…
"I beg your pardon" like "Sorry" can have multiple meanings based on the situation and inflection. It can be used to excuse not hearing something, to get someone to repeat something preposterous or to generally reply to something shocking without actually expecting the other person to reiterate. I hear it most days in corporate tech.....
It's the perfect retort whenever someone expects a rose garden.