sorry

[newmistakes]

There’s a woman at work who uses the word ‘sorry’ a lot. And by a lot I mean A LOT. If she asks you a question, if she walks past you, essentially every interaction with her is cushioned in either a pre-emptive or reactive apology. At first I found it amusing, viewing it as a cute little linguistic tic of sorts. But the thing about becoming aware

Comments

[kurikuribebi]

I'm guilty of saying sorry all the time, but I think it's just the culture is. Everyone does it.

[newmistakes]

Sorry isn't so cultural here, Zia. But yeah I can see that it could be quite a nice ingrained cultural norm :)

[kurikuribebi]

Thank you is another one, here.
You will say it at the end of every single sentence!

[newmistakes]

Haha at the end of every single sentence?? "I can't believe you've given me syphilis! Thank you." :P

[newmistakes]

Haha! Yes, I sometimes think that doctors are more prone to god complexes than even cult leaders! You're doing a good community service keeping them down to earth and humble :)

[dreamer512]

It is mostly a female thing. I think you're right in that there are two sides to it- sometimes it's just being polite, and sometimes, at least for some people, I think it often is a lack of self-esteem. I don't think we should stop saying it, but just work on becoming more aware of when we say it, and who we say it to. Women probably apologize a lot more to men than they do to other women. Am I still sorry if I say sorry I'm not sorry?

[newmistakes]

Yeah, you could be on to something about more female sorries being directed to men, although I hope not. I like to think I'm an equal opportunity apologist, making my unnecessary sorries based on nothing more than social awkwardness and not wanting to be a dick.

I think you're not sorry if you say sorry I'm not sorry, but the problem with that cute workaround is that it also implies you are the kind of ditherer who can't make up her mind and perhaps has suffered some kind of tragic brain trauma :P

It's jus summtin we ALL do here

[adman]

Canadians are notorious for being polite to the point of overly polite except for the upcoming young punks.. guess they didn't get the.. 'let's all be polite and nice to each other' .. memo'.. punks.

Yeah we say "Eh" and 'chesterfield' instead of sofa or couch. Lots~O-please & thank yous and udder polite stuff. It's more a part of our heritage and everyday chit chat. Sorry sorta rolls off the tongue with ease and very little sincerity because it's used for everything.

Hey it raining.. oh sorry to hear that mate
Haven't been here before.. oh I'm so sorry
Slept in.. ahh sorry that happened to you

etc.

Canadian's eh.. known as VERY polite folks and somewhat friendly too eh mate

RE: It's jus summtin we ALL do here

[newmistakes]

Ah young punks! Someone should thrash some politeness into them :P

Yes, I found the Canadians to be a very friendly bunch when I was there. But I still suspect that female Canadians say the 's' word more than male Canadians. You should listen out for it and see if I'm right :)

[spiral_meter]

what do you think happened in her life that made her so apologetic? maybe she has dealt with a lot of difficult people, and apologizing diffused some of the conflict from such folk.

i think i'm a good sorrier, in that i use it only when appropriate or when i'm trying to be extra polite. i think i say "excuse me" fairly often, but again, only when necessary.

b

[newmistakes]

She's a lovely lady, very polite, and working in education she definitely has had to deal with her fair share of difficult folk, but I get the impression she's constantly worried she's an imposition. However, having said that, she knows she's very good at her job and she is not a walkover when it comes to making sure that the students' best interests are considered. So who knows, but it is interesting.

It sounds like you have the happy knack of knowing when to hold your sorries and when to use them. Getting the right balance is difficult, so you deserve mucho kudos!

[spiral_meter]

i'm glad all these people kept you on their friend lists during your absence.

b

[newmistakes]

Me too. I suppose it helps that quite a few people on my little friends list are even worse than I am at regularly updating :)