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Apologies
We have probably all been in a situation when we know we have behaved badly towards
someone, but pride or stubbornness has made us slow to apologise. As the British pop singer
Elton John put it in one of his songs, it is often the case that ‘sorry seems to be the hardest
word’.
Of course, when we do manage to make a sincere apology, it can quickly reduce the hurt or
resentment felt by the person we have behaved badly towards. In the words of the Canadian
cartoonist Lynn Johnston, ‘An apology is the Superglue of life – it can repair just about
anything.’
However a recent survey suggests that in Britain the word ‘sorry’ is being used in various
situations where it doesn’t have the traditional purpose of expressing regret for something a
person has said or done. Arguably, the word is now being overused and might even be in
danger of losing its meaning.
Based on a sample of 1,100 people, the survey produced the statistic that the average British
person will say sorry almost 2 million times in his or her lifetime. It found that on many
occasions people use the word ‘sorry’ to tell others that they don’t have time to say or do
something (‘Sorry, I can’t talk right now’), or as a substitute for ‘pardon’ when they haven’t
heard something that was said (‘Sorry, what was that?’), or for ‘excuse me’ when they want to
get someone’s attention (‘Sorry, have you got the time?’).
Then there is the phenomenon that both amuses and mystifies many foreign visitors to
Britain: not only do many British people say sorry when they accidentally bump into someone
in a crowded place, such as on an underground train in London, but also when they are the
ones who have been bumped into by someone else! This probably contributes to the finding
that almost 20% of a British person’s apologies are made to strangers, whereas only 8% are
made to friends and 14% to work colleagues. Sociologists have tried to explain these
seemingly unnecessary apologies, but unfortunately there is no space here to go into their
theories in any depth.
Most people interviewed for the survey also felt that ‘sorry’ is too often used in a flippant
way, as an attempt to reduce another person’s displeasure, but without any intention of
addressing the source of the problem.
One possible conclusion, therefore, is that while the quantity of apologies heard in Britain
could be reduced, the degree of sincerity behind them needs to be increased.
NM Studio
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Exercise 1
Here are some simple definitions for words that appear in the text. Find the words they refer
to and fill in the gaps.
1. _______________ (verb) to confuse someone by doing something strange or difficult
to explain
2. _______________ (noun) a set of questions that you ask a large number of people
3. _______________ (adjective) not serious or respectful enough
4. _______________ (adjective) full of people
5. _______________ (noun) the cause of something or the place where it comes from
6. _______________ (adjective) not pretending or lying; honest
7. _________ _________ (verb) to hit against something or someone accidentally
8. _______________ (noun) a piece of information that is discovered
Exercise 2
Now complete the crossword below. If all the words are correct, an adjective meaning ‘full of
regret or guilt’ will be revealed from top to bottom.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1. From the survey, it seems British people apologise more often to strangers than they
do to ___________.
NM Studio
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2. Being ___________ can sometimes make us slow to apologise.
3. The cartoonist Lynn Johnston is from ___________.
4. The text describes how ‘sorry’ is not only used when people feel ___________ about
something they have said or done.
5. It seems that people in Britain might be ___________ the word ‘sorry’.
6. Many foreigners in Britain are ___________ when they see people apologise after
other people have bumped into them.
7. Sociologists’ ___________ have tried to explain seemingly unnecessary apologies.
8. According to the survey, the average British person will ___________ almost 2
million times in his or her lifetime.
