The British are, if anything, polite in most any situation. It is a sign of reservedness and helps maintain a general sense of propriety. But, as the outsiders looking in, we have to notice that their favorite word is “sorry.” It is apparently used to mean any of the following:
· “I see that we are both in the same doorway at the same time.”
· “I would really like to get on that Tube escalator in front of you.”
· “Could you take off your headset so you can hear me?”
· “We feel bad that we haven’t updated the blog in months”
· “Would you please repeat yourself, I didn’t understand you.”
· “I don’t have a lot of self-esteem.”
But it is most often used instead of “Excuse me” or “Pardon me”.
If you are standing, for example, at a bus stop, and someone wants you to step to the side slightly so they can pass, the appropriate expression for them to use is “Sorry”. If you accidentally brush up against someone in a crowd, what should you say? “Sorry.” And if Nigel simply wants to get Francesca’s attention, he should most definitely say “Sorry”.
Oddly enough, there was a study released recently in the paper (and it actually was on page 11), that showed the English say “Sorry” an average of 6.2 times per day and that they should be averaging about 1.2 times per day (the number of times in a day a person would truly be sorry about something). So, if you are English and live to be 100 years old, you will likely say “Sorry” no less than 226,300 times in your life. On the upside, according to the study, if you were Scottish and 100 years old, you would have only been “Sorry” 131,400 times. Hurray for Scotland!
We hope you have found this post interesting. If not … “Sorry.”
Sorry, what were you saying?
ReplyDeleteYou mean, as opposed to our dear vietnaminglish friend who just politely says "Move it!" as she's pushing you out of the way?
ReplyDeleteBeing of English blood (and German and Dutch and, believe or not, one quarter American i.e. English), the sorriness really is sorry. It translates thus: "I'm on my own planet and wasn't expecting you to be where you are. I truly am sorry that you're going to have to get the f*ck out of my way because you're in it and that is out of order with the Way Things Should Be."
Most people, especially my wife Katja, would just say it like it is. The English, on the other hand, have history (i.e. natural selection) to deal with. Saying, "Get out of my way! Why do you have to have a conversation in the middle of the f*cking sidewalk anyway," to any non-prolitarian would have resulted in decapitation until a few years ago, so the only genes we have left are the "Sorry" genes.