Neil: I'm Neil.
Beth: And I'm Beth.
Neil: There are many ways of saying sorry in English,
and they all have a slightly different meaning.
If you tell me you're ill, and I say, 'Oh, I'm sorry',
that means: I sympathise, and I hope you get better soon.
Beth: If you step on my toes by mistake,
and say, 'I'm so sorry',
you mean: oops that was my fault and I didn't mean to do it.
Neil: And if you don't really feel sorry, you might be sarcastic,
'Oh, I'm soooo sorry!' meaning exactly the opposite –
that you're not sorry at all.
Beth: Saying sorry for something you've done in English can be quite confusing,
and to make things worse, the British are world champions at apologising.
In this programme we'll discuss ways of saying sorry,
and as usual we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
Neil: Sorry! but I'm going to have to stop you there, Beth,
because first I have a question to ask.
We know that the British love to say sorry.
In fact a recent survey found that some Brits apologise up to twenty times a day.