Prior to this law, millions of people were arrested at funerals.
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I had the opposite TIL when I learned other cultures only apologize for wrong doings and not as a sign of sympathy.
I’m on the other side of the fence for this one.
What do you mean?
I’m not frustrated at being asked why I’m apologizing. Rather, I’m frustrated that it is the norm to apologize for things that you didn’t do.
You got me curious to find out which meaning of "sorry" came first, so I looked up its etymology.
The modern word came through Middle English, from an Old English word that meant "distressed, grieved, full of sorrow". The Proto-Germanic root before that had a meaning of "painful."
A meaning of "repentant, remorseful, contrite" was recorded circa 1200 AD.
The page also notes:
Simple sorry in an apologetic sense (short for I'm sorry) is suggested by 1834
Putting it all together, it seems people initially began saying "sorry" (or the word that would become it) to express that they were feeling some kind of "pain." At some point it started being used exclusively for emotional pain. Around 1200 AD, it picked up the sense of "remorseful." However, simply saying "sorry" to express that remorse wasn't a thing for another 600 or so years.
I'm no professional etymologist, and I only checked this one source, so I could very well be wrong. However, it sounds like the meaning of "feeling sorry" to mean feeling bad (which is what people mean when they say, "I feel sorry for you") predates using "I'm sorry" to express remorse over one's actions.
Note - this isn't intended to support nor sway anyone's opinion. Language changes, and there is no right or wrong to it. An older meaning isn't more or less valid than a newer meaning, especially when both meanings have already co-existed for centuries. I just find word history interesting and wanted to share what your comment inspired me to learn. ✌️
The norm is to offer sympathy. It's just the same word can be used for both.
Because someone else’s misfortune is inherently not my responsibility. I can easily express sympathy in another way.
Why do you reject that sorry can be used to express sympathy without assuming responsibility?
I'll give you something to be sorry about vibes. I'll give you something for me to be sorry about?
why would it be; it just means "i feel bad". which you could say for things you did but also it should be allowed to feel bad for things you didn't cause yourself.
"we had to evacuate because of the wildfire"
"oh, I'm sorry"
"I knew it you son of a bitch"
For anyone having trouble understanding the difference between "I'm sorry" and "I apologize," think of how it would be taken at a funeral.
It depends on the context, don't you think?
I don't think anyone will assume you started the fire just because you're sorry someone had to evacuate.
But let's say you're out in public, there's people all over, you bump into someone, or someone bumps into you, you're not sure, but either way, they fall down and injure themselves. Thanks to this, you can say "I'm sorry" without having a lawyer argue that you accepted guilt for the incident just because you said you're sorry.
Every single time I tell my bf I'm sorry about something bad that happened to him, his response is, "Why? You didn't do it."
Yeah, ive had literally this conversation, word for word.
Interesting that it doesn't apply to criminal cases, just civil ones, and in PEI, only to civil healthcare or defamation cases, nothing else.
The fact that this was necessary is so stupid
Since I'm Canadian and live in a major city that gets very busy I can kinda understand it. I do it myself. bump into someone or do the side walk shuffle and I said sorry even though it's not my fault. Like someone will bump into me and I'll say sorry.
Can I invoke this during family arguments over the holidays?
"My bad bro."
So I can pummel a home invader while saying sorry and I'm OK?
Not admitting guilt doesn't make you not guilty
No, it just avoids the typical Murican scene where a person can't even say they feel sorry for others as that may land them on the shitty end of a lawsuit
I have to wait for me to be stabbed on the ground? Sorry!



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