They missed "Sorry not sorry." :)
What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
81–90 of 122 posts
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#82The British have a similarly strange relationship with the word "Brilliant".
Similar to Amazon reviews, British people like to either give a 1 or a 5.
Not similar to Amazon reviews Brits default to 1. So when it's a 5 it's particularly meaningful.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#83I came here to say sorry.
Actually interesting I remember saying sorry in the sense of, "Can you repeat what you said?" and it annoyed one of my friends so much that she essentially trained me to say pardon instead because it was annoying her. Didn't realize it was part of my Canadian heritage.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#84I came here to say sorry. Actually interesting I remember saying sorry in the sense of, "Can you repeat what you said?" and it annoyed one of my friends so much that she essentially trained me to say pardon instead because it was annoying her. Didn't realize it was part of my Canadian heritage.
Sub question if anyone is interested. I often have to ask people to repeat themselves but when I go get hearing tests they say I'm perfect. It's a little annoying. I've copped it out to this framework: the hearing tests only tests the range of the human voice, but it doesn't test say, understanding through other systems. For example, I cannot for the life of me understand anything my nieces or nephews say over the phone. Speech practice aside I believe that given that their voices are high pitched, I'm assuming the phone lines (and online meeting rooms) collapse the human voice to a smaller wavespace for efficiency, hense forth clipping the highs and the lows making it harder to distinguish the nuances of the sound. I can understand them just fine in person, but over the phone is such a nightmare. I've developed a bit of an ear as you when when you are around a group of people for long enough. (I.E. parents not able to understand customer service folks when they resort to short form, "slang" English, vs standard pronunciation.) Wonder if anybody else has gone down this rabbithole a bit deeper and can share their insights. (All this because I wanted to qualify the "actually interesting" statement....
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#85Literally all of these meanings are used in the same way in German. And actually, the word "Sorry" itself, too.
Not all Germans do it, but I'd say a fair share. I think, because the German "Entschuldigung" is four syllables long :D But that would work the same way and for example in the pub situations you can shout it much better: "Ent-shool-dee-goong?"
I wasn't aware this is something that doesn't work in all English-speaking countries. I may have overused the equivalent of the word in other languages, too. Scusi about that.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#86Ontario, an apology is not an admission of liability: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09a03 So very Canada. Sorry!
Oh I'm sorry, but this makes total sense. I say sorry so much that I have seen people take it as admission of responsibility. And it's not good. Glad there are laws that understand the nuance of language.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#87I’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…
What’s mad about that? The sorry was for interrupting and engaging you and having a favour to ask. The sorry itself wasn’t a command, it was an apology for the implied command.
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#88Earlier 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.
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Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#89Earlier 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” can be translated as “what the fuck did you just say to me?” It’s getting quite serious if you have to whip that one out
You definitely shut up quickly when you said something as a kid and grandma whipped this one out
Re: What British people mean when they say 'sorry'
#90I’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…
Separately, I love the word “bloke”. I wish it would take off here in the US.