Excuse me, I’m sorry
I thought I have been living in the US long enough to understand the difference between "I’m sorry" and "excuse me", but apparently I've been using it the wrong way all along. My husband, who refuses to correct my English mistakes or pronunciation, decided to correct me after all this time I've been with him. He asked me why I said ‘sorry’ to the people when we entered an elevator a few weeks ago. He said,”maybe you should try ‘excuse me’ when moving past people". I couldn't believe it!!! I am glad he finally told me about this silly mistake, but why couldn't he tell me a while back instead of letting me make it over and over again in public. Now I have been trying to use "excuse me" more. I think I may be using it too much and I am starting to get confused again. I stepped on a woman’s foot yesterday and just stared at her for the extra few seconds it took me to decide which phrase to use in that situation. Because I was a little unsure of myself, when I finally decided on “excuse me” it came out in the form of a question. She looked at me like I was the rudest person on the planet. I think I will just switch back to ‘I’m sorry’ for everything.
posted by Leilouta @ 3:09 PM
30 Comments:
At 4:39 PM,
Cairogal said…
I think, in a crowded situation, I might alternate between "Excuse me", "Sorry", and "pardon me" just to avoid sounding repetitive. As an ESL teacher, I think "excuse me" or "sorry" would be understood if you were trying to make someone move.
At 5:23 PM,
shlemazl said…
Heh, that's a dangerous one.
The perfidious English bugged their language to make it troublesome for foreigners.
"Excuse me" is a particularly nasty one. Who would have thought that something that means "forgive" can be used as
- "you are in my way!" or
- "you cannot mean this!"
At 6:37 PM,
pure_honey_tounsi said…
I said "excuse me" if it's before the action, and "sorry" if it's after,
my husband is always correcting me and trying to convince me to use "pardon me" but I'm always confused!
At 6:46 PM,
sassou said…
Same thing for me, the thing is that i realise i misused the word "sorry" or "excuse me" when i see people face :( chéy ma habbitich todkhol el mokhi!!
At 10:59 PM,
samsoum said…
Theoretically "Excuse me" is fine for both situation whether you ask for forgiveness (original meaning) or to make someone aware of your presence before asking a question or a service. We say "excuse me" if we disturb a conversation by coughing or sneezing and we use it to ask a stranger for direction or to make him move from your way. "Sorry" is used in the context of forgiveness when you do something "bad" like stepping on a woman's foot :-))
At 2:19 AM,
Imperator said…
oups, I am so sorry :)
damned English language!!!
you shouldn't be ashame leila, you aren't native speaker so it is your right to mistake!!
Thanks for all it is the first time that I hear "pardon me"!!
IK
At 3:18 AM,
D.B. Shobrawy said…
Its ok to say Sorry in those situations. Its like you are apologizing for whatever inconvienience you are causing and alot of people use it that way.
At 8:08 AM,
Herlock Sholmes said…
I do the same thing. It's the french education where we say "Pardon"... "Sorry"
At 9:30 AM,
moshe pearlman said…
Learn to speak fucking English you stupid sausage-sucking sand nigger slut with STD's from Tunisia. Go to Hell where you came from. We don't want sand nigger sluts like you in the USA. This country belongs to us Jews not you fucking sand niggers. Get the hell out of here you shitfaced bitch just like your other pic with shit all over your face. Damn, I feel sorry for your dumbass queer husband for marrying you. I'm sure he's fucking guys in the ass on the side and probably has AIDs just like you fuck and suck and blow other guys for money. And you work for the C,I.A? Do you mean you work for taking Cock in Ass? Damn, you are one dirty whore. I knew it bitch. Get the fuck out of the USA which belongs to us not you mother fucker. Get the hell out bitch.
P.S I don't give a damn if I sound like a racist Nazi because I'm a proud fucking Jew that hates all sand niggers. Fuck Nazis, fuck sand niggers, fuck Hitler, fuck Arab sluts and whores.
At 9:32 AM,
moshe pearlman said…
By the way I work for the F.B.I which is an organization dedicated to Fucking Bitches Internationally and I am a certified pussymaster but I will not fuck a nasty hairy Arab whore with shit on her face.
At 9:39 AM,
sassou said…
wja3li 3inaya el chleka illi kabli, wa brabbi kollou illi inti bint el bled kiffou walla ta3rif chnowa ijbid a3lih el chasse! wa ken el chleka fhim ech ka3da niktib ena waktha in kollou barra rawih el bledik kbal.
At 10:39 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
Old Moshe at least sounds like he is closing rapidly on the art of English profanity. Just giving credit where credit is due.
As for the use of "excuse me" vs "I'm sorry", it goes something like this.
We generally use "excuse me" when we are trying to politely get someones attenton to move out of our way so we can get past them. Not advisable in a line waiting for service.
The phrase "I'm sorry" or "sorry" is generally reserved for when we have made an intrusion into someones personal space without the afore mentioned "excuse me" request.
Western people have a much larger "local space" barrier than many other people in the world. We generally get anctious when someone that we don't know gets within two feet of us in public.
If you wish to go through a crowd in public and have to get within one or two feet of someone, Excuse me is in order.
Sorry is reserved for when you actually have to phycally contact someone without permission, either verbal or with implied body language.
Hope that helps. :-)
At 10:43 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
phycally = physically :-)
At 10:55 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
P.S.
See the "Close Talker" episode of Seinfeld.
At 11:02 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
"excuse me" = Polite way of saying "get out of my way"
"I'm sorry or sorry" = Forgive me for getting in your personal space or actually touching you without your permission.
At 11:41 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
"The perfidious English bugged their language to make it troublesome for foreigners."
Ha! As and American, I'de always thought the same thing. That was until I encountered the French language of course.
At 11:44 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
and = an, just another devilish English invention to beguile the foreighners. :-)
At 11:55 PM,
Curt from Houston said…
Imperator:
"...damned English language!!!
you shouldn't be ashame leila, you aren't native speaker so it is your right to mistake!!
Of course it is. But you seem to think less of her by trying to fit into her adopted culture. Where's your "tolerence" Imperator?
At 3:14 PM,
egyptchick7 said…
Uhm seems like moishe is the same jewish bastrad from carmens blog....sorry habipty
At 8:22 AM,
The Moody Minstrel said…
"Excuse me" is what you say when you want to invite someone's forgiveness for a trivial matter (i.e. you don't think you really did anything bad).
"I'm sorry" is what you say when you want to acknowledge your own guilt (i.e. you DO think you did something bad).
(Nothing at all) is, unfortunately, what a lot of people would tend to say in any case regardless of how bad they have been.
"Boot to the head" is what one would like to say (and DO) to such people...perhaps followed by an "excuse me" or "I'm sorry".
At 8:23 AM,
The Moody Minstrel said…
I think Moishe is the same troll who has been popping up on a number of blogs lately. Shlemazl may have identified him, too.
At 10:32 AM,
Bobealia... said…
I say sorry a lot. That's because I'm Canadian though.
In Quebec peeps just say 'scuser instead of Je m'excuse. I kind of like it. To bad there's no equivalent in English.
At 11:31 AM,
shlemazl said…
egyptchick7 said…
Uhm seems like moishe is the same jewish bastrad from carmens blog....sorry habipty
You are either very naive and stupid or you have a problem.
At 2:05 AM,
D.B. Shobrawy said…
LOL
At 1:57 PM,
Olivia said…
Haha! Before I get confused reading all the comments, let me give you a US/UK perspective.
I say "excuse me" if I need someone to move out of my way in both countries, or if I make an accidental noise.
I say "(I'm) sorry" if I have brushed against someone unintentionally in both countries.
However, it is common in the UK to say, "Sorry?" if you didn't hear what someone said and want them to repeat it. On the other hand, in the US I say, "Pardon (me)?" (It was funny how I automatically switched it back and forth this past week with my American and British cousins.)
I may say "Paaardon me!" in an exaggerated manner if I do a particularly spectacular Pepsi burp or something with friends or family!
I also exaggerate "Excuuuuse me!" when messing about in mock indignation.
At 4:21 AM,
Mumbo Jumbo said…
I used to do the opposite; I used to say "3an eznak" thinking it meant "Excuse me", to call a waiter or a sales person.
No one would ever come. I found out it was like saying, "Excuse me. Let me pass" or "make way." when I should've been saying , "law sama7t." :)
By the way, it's GREAT to have you back!
At 6:28 AM,
tooners said…
that's funny.
you know... you can say "sorry" for things that your husband said you should use "excuse me" ....
when i'm talkin to someone and i don't understand what they're saying, i'll say "sorry", and i can understand you saying "sorry" when moving past someone in an elevator.
At 12:16 PM,
viagra online said…
What nice information, I think that your performance is so great,I think that the English mistakes or pronunciation, are a big problem.
At 1:06 PM,
generic cialis said…
It is never too late to learn or to be corrected, it is the same with my spanish, there are just words that I cant pronounce or write.
At 1:25 PM,
Generic Viagra said…
Don't matter about it because I got the same situation some years ago, you can realize about the difference when you have sped long time there.
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