Is 'sorry' Completely Overused?

ck1 | 09:50 Fri 06th Sep 2013 | ChatterBank

43 Answers

I'm sorry you're not feeling well, I'm sorry your dog died, I'm sorry you got stuck in traffic...does it have any real meaning?

Nurses Revalidation

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KARL

Try for a day or at least a few hours saying what you actually mean while deliberately not using the word "sorry". You will find that there is more or less no need for it anywhere - apology/ise, regret, etc. will do perfectly well at their current rate of usage. One might then move on to the same treatment of some of the other overused words which similarly have completely lost their resonance and genuine meaning.

jno

I continue to disagree... "Please do this" has a different meaning from "Do this".

It may be different in other languages - but if you use it in English you're almost certainly usng it in the same way and expressing the same meaning as your great great grandmother would have. The phrase about minding your Ps and Qs is first mentioned (though not in that form) in 1602; "social conventions" seldom last that long.

IanJagoe

Sorry. Do you mean you don't think he was a hero for continuing at all? Or do you mean you don't consider what he was actually doing on the pitch still, was "playing"?
The word I feel is being heavily overused amongst my younger friends is " the word AWESOME!
"Sorry" at least acknowledges one's presence nearby !! Ian Jagoe

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