"Sorry"

[kimberkit]

I have said this before, but I thought I'd rant about the use of the word "sorry."

Do people who apologize actually know what that's supposed to mean? It's supposed to mean, "I feel bad because I hurt or inconvenienced you, and whatever I did, I'll try not to do it again." Instead, people frequently say "sorry," when what they really mean is, "I'm sorry I created more of a mess for myself than I expected." Bah.

Comments

[osirusbrisbane.livejournal.com]

So true. A recent thread on Losernet had people ranting about the inflation of language where phrases like I love you, I'm sorry, excuse me, thank you, &c have all become meaningless. This leads to preposterous piling on of adjectives for regular usage in an attempt to differentiate the real thing from the nonsense uses (I'm really and truly sorry, thank you very very much, &c).

[geeveecatullus.livejournal.com]

A friend got mad at me once for not saying "sorry" for not doing him a favour (I was supposed to say "Sorry I won't do it" not "I won't do it").
My definition of sorry is more with yours and I did not understand why I should (pretend to) feel bad for not wanting to do this for him.