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…

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dieselgate 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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

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enochthered 8 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

“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

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roarcher 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

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cromka 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

They'll also commonly say "pardon me", which is a bit nicer "say again", but definitely nowhere close to "I beg your pardon" uptightness.

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tdeck 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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".

	▲	roarcher 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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.

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thrownthatway 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The usage of "I beg your pardon" is not uncommon in Australia, but more ironic.

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swarnie 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"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.....

	▲	DonHopkins 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's the perfect retort whenever someone expects a rose garden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eclUz-RYI

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thrownthatway 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Reminds me of that Hale and Pace skit on the street.

https://youtu.be/VRmjbvChV_M

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whackernews 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

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protocolture 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Eh its sorry for "sorry would you mind terribly moving your bag" nothing so direct as move your bag alone.

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swarnie 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> One day I was on the tube. My bag was on the seat next to me

Presumably you also said sorry in return?