I’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.
Yes, he said "Sorry [to trouble you, but would you move your bag so I could sit there?]"
Highly abbreviated exchange combined with a gesture.
> The sorry was for interrupting and engaging you and having a favour to ask.
Sorry (heh), but it could easily be a sarcastic use (#4), not apologetic (#3) and not softening (#5). Not even tone can always differentiate between the apologetic "I'm sorry to bother you" and the non-apologetic "I'm sorry that your parents failed in raising you". They could be asking you for a favour, but they could just as easily be calling you inconsiderate of others because seats are for people not bags.
I’d argue tone is often useful. But you’re right - as someone who habitually employs subtle sarcasm I’ve found a large portion of the population are not really in tune to that subtlety. For me it’s a good quick differentiator to identify strangers I might actually get along with. That’s an aside though… in our case the meaning & intent might be opaque, but the result is the same. In my case, I either make someone laugh, or weird them out.
Worked a job taking calls from brits for insurance. The first thing we were made aware of was the brit use of polite sarcasm.
E.g. when someone calls in on behalf of her spouse saying he's gone digging potatoes.
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 so pedestrian
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.
I'm familiar with the expression but if an American said that to me, I'd probably think it meant "rethink what you just said".
It depends a lot on their tone. Most of the time I've heard it, it's a quick "begpardon?", sometimes with their ear cocked towards you.
When I see it in writing, I too for some reason picture an angry posh British man who is about to demand satisfaction.
They'll also commonly say "pardon me", which is a bit nicer "say again", but definitely nowhere close to "I beg your pardon" uptightness.
The usage of "I beg your pardon" is not uncommon in Australia, but more ironic.
“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
"I beg your pardon" like "Sorry" can have multiple meanings based on the situation and inflection.
It can be used to excuse not hearing something, to get someone to repeat something preposterous or to generally reply to something shocking without actually expecting the other person to reiterate.
I hear it most days in corporate tech.....
It's the perfect retort whenever someone expects a rose garden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eclUz-RYI
The proper response to ‘I beg your pardon’ (and ‘I beg to differ’) is always, “alright then, beg!”
Reminds me of that Hale and Pace skit on the street.
https://youtu.be/VRmjbvChV_M
Was on a London bus early one morning, not many people on the bus. One bloke got up from his seat to get off, he had a big bag and knocked it against one of the poles on his way out. He said sorry to the pole, there was no one else around. One of the most British things I’ve seen.
Canada/Canadians too. They apologize to furniture as well...
Eh its sorry for "sorry would you mind terribly moving your bag" nothing so direct as move your bag alone.
Separately, I love the word “bloke”. I wish it would take off here in the US.
Bloke is definitely not as common in the UK as it is in NZ and Australia.
Just like togs, which I've never heard anybody say here though I've read that parts of Ireland still use it.
Swimming togs? That's what they were commonly called at my primary school in Belfast. Never heard it used since!
Same goes for "gutties" - rubber-soled shoes to wear in the gym (presumably from gutta-percha).
I think "bloke" was more common in the 90s over here. It picked up an association with boorishness, especially when used as an adjective - "blokey" was almost the middle-aged equivalent of "laddish".
When I hear the word bloke I think of Andy Capp. Not sure if he ever used it in the comic strip though.
> One day I was on the tube. My bag was on the seat next to me
Presumably you also said sorry in return?