blog post 8

Why do we say ‘sorry’ so much?

I have recently read a article on the conversation about 'why do we say sorry so much? The article brings up the idea that apologizing far often than needed, may be a sign of weakness. It also zooms in on apologetic language and which gender is most prone to use it.

The word sorry has been used since the earliest stages of English language and is Anglo-Saxon, it is used to express remorse, sorrow and regret for an inconvenience. The phrase 'I am sorry' has shifted to a simple 'sorry' this makes it less personal, this is now passive as we don't know who the apology is too or from, creating much more distance and little meaning. The article also states that sorry could be used in a context like 'i was sorry to hear about your loss', but nowadays we tend to use with an intensifying adverb for example 'extremely sorry' or 'truly sorry'. I think this is because we over use sorry so much, on its own there is no impact as the word holds relatively no power or empathy to whom you're talking to. Normally people will say sorry when they don't  mean it, just because its what the other person wants to hear or they feel like they have to.

Other than an apology sorry can be used as a positive politeness strategy, for example if someone is walking slowly and you bump into them. It could be approached quite rudely, for example 'move out of my way' or it can be said politely which makes people more inclined to do what you are asking them 'sorry,excuse me'. It can also be used to'soften the blow', in a situation where someone gets sacked from their job, sorry will soon follow after which makes you feel like it couldn't of been avoided.

There is a claim that women are more likely to say sorry compared to men. This is related to myths that women are more chatty and co-operative than men. Although this information is based on gender stereotypes and no scientific evidence although research shows that there are many similarities in the way in which men and women apologise. 

 The article says that women imitate men to gain equality in the workplace. And in my personal opinion I agree with statement that women apologise more than men because I feel like females are more understanding than males. I would like to know why the exact reason men don't apologise as much as women. it may be because they feel like they already have a lot of power and don't feel the need to because they're dominant.