Sorry并不仅仅是抱歉,根据词典,sorry与sore同源,主要含义包括:
1. 感受或表达同情、遗憾和后悔。
例如,I’m sorry I’m late; I feel sorry for him; sorry over mistakes she had made; felt sorry over his vanished youth.
2. 差劲的、毫无价值的。
例如,a sorry excuse; the car was a sorry piece of junk; a sorry horse; .
3. 导致不幸或痛苦的。
例如,a sorry development; the sorry days of the war; a sorry winter landscape; sorry rainy weather.
4. 可怜、痛苦的。
例如,a sorry sight; her clothes were in sorry shape; a sorry decision; my finances were in a sorry state; a sorry state of affairs.
在第一个义项即有关道歉的含义上,“I’m sorry”根据不同语境至少可以有四种效果:
1. I’m at fault:承认错误,是最彻底、最难作出的真诚道歉。这意味着道歉着准备承担一切后果。
2. I regret it:表达遗憾,没有主观故意,也不一定承担后果。这是多数要求道歉的人所期望的结果,但有时候容易与I’m at fault混淆。
3. I sympathize:表达同情和理解,事实上不属于道歉范围。在面对他人的损失和不幸时,这是常见说法。
4. I’m not really sorry:事实上属于拒绝道歉,只不过语气委婉而已。
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