sorry!

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
sor·ry/ˈsɒri, ˈsɔri/ [sor-ee, sawr-ee]
–adjective, -ri·er, -ri·est.
1. feeling regret, compunction, sympathy, pity, etc.: to be sorry to leave one's friends; to be sorry for a remark; to be sorry for someone in trouble.
2. regrettable or deplorable; unfortunate; tragic: a sorry situation; to come to a sorry end.
3. sorrowful, grieved, or sad: Was she sorry when her brother died?
4. associated with sorrow; suggestive of grief or suffering; melancholy; dismal.
5. wretched, poor, useless, or pitiful: a sorry horse.
6. (used interjectionally as a conventional apology or expression of regret): Sorry, you're misinformed. Did I bump you? Sorry.

Daomingsi had a famous line in Meteor Garden "如果对不起有用的话，那要警察来干嘛?" (loosely translated, it means in english "what are cops for if a sorry is enough?")

I met with an incident today which made me ponder about why people say sorry. After all, what is done cannot be undone. Pure expression of apology without real action is not gonna help anything.

I am on the side where the other party, or rather parties, said 'sorry' to. But their 'sorry' will not help the situation in anyway and no matter how apolegetic or guilty they feel, nothing is gonna change.

Then why do people still say sorry? And I realize people often misuse 'sorry', using it casually when they do not mean it at all or when they need not feel sorry at all. To the latter group, I will always say 'your apology is not accepted coz you were not in the wrong in the first place.' To the former, it is total disgust. *yucks*

I tried looking up wikipedia hoping that it will provide some history of how this word came about but to no avail.

But according to a famous scholar JASMINE ANG, saying sorry is a verbal manifestation of guilt or regret since there is no possible facial expression of it. And saying sorry is only meant to appease the offended party and for the offending party to take the blame and admit the mistake. Referring to my incident, before the other party said sorry, I was furious that they did not say that magic 'S' word to claim their resposibility though I jolly well know that the harm is already done. After the magic word was uttered, I was frustrated because the situation cannot be salvaged.

Arrrgghhh... I hate apologies!