Sorry About The Rain, By Henry Hitchings
It is probably the most over-used word in the United Kingdom: whether they are sorry
about the weather or sorry because someone else has bumped into them, chances are
your average Briton has blurted out at least one apology in the past hour or two.
A recent survey of more than 1,000 Brits found that that the average person says ‘sorry’
around eight times per day – and that one in eight people apologise up to 20 times a
day.
“The readiness of the English to apologise for something they haven’t done is
remarkable, and it is matched by an unwillingness to apologise for what they have
done,” wrote Henry Hitchings in his aptly-titled Sorry!: The English and their Manners.
But do the British really apologise more frequently than members …show more content…
In half the cases, the stranger preceded his request with:
“Sorry about the rain”. When he did this, 47% of strangers gave him their mobile,
compared to only 9% when he simply asked to borrow their phone. Further experiments
confirmed it was the apology about the weather that mattered, not the
politeness of the opening sentence.
“By saying ‘I’m sorry about the rain’, the superfluous apologiser acknowledges an
unfortunate circumstance, takes the victim’s perspective and expresses empathy for the
negative circumstance – even though it is outside of his or her control,” says Wood
Brooks.
Of course, the British aren’t the only group known for being apologetic. Women are
often presumed to be, too.
To test if this stereotype stood up to scrutiny, Schumann recruited a group of university
students to keep a journal for 12 days. They listed every situation they encountered
where they felt an apology was deserved and whether or not one had been given. She
found that the women did say ‘sorry’ more often than the men, but they also reported
more offenses when they thought an apology was needed – both for when they
about the weather or sorry because someone else has bumped into them, chances are
your average Briton has blurted out at least one apology in the past hour or two.
A recent survey of more than 1,000 Brits found that that the average person says ‘sorry’
around eight times per day – and that one in eight people apologise up to 20 times a
day.
“The readiness of the English to apologise for something they haven’t done is
remarkable, and it is matched by an unwillingness to apologise for what they have
done,” wrote Henry Hitchings in his aptly-titled Sorry!: The English and their Manners.
But do the British really apologise more frequently than members …show more content…
In half the cases, the stranger preceded his request with:
“Sorry about the rain”. When he did this, 47% of strangers gave him their mobile,
compared to only 9% when he simply asked to borrow their phone. Further experiments
confirmed it was the apology about the weather that mattered, not the
politeness of the opening sentence.
“By saying ‘I’m sorry about the rain’, the superfluous apologiser acknowledges an
unfortunate circumstance, takes the victim’s perspective and expresses empathy for the
negative circumstance – even though it is outside of his or her control,” says Wood
Brooks.
Of course, the British aren’t the only group known for being apologetic. Women are
often presumed to be, too.
To test if this stereotype stood up to scrutiny, Schumann recruited a group of university
students to keep a journal for 12 days. They listed every situation they encountered
where they felt an apology was deserved and whether or not one had been given. She
found that the women did say ‘sorry’ more often than the men, but they also reported
more offenses when they thought an apology was needed – both for when they