Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. 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. So according to the same survey, how many times per day does the average Brit say sorry? Is it:

a)? ? ?four times per day?

b) ? ? six times per day? or,

c)? ? ?eight times per day?

“對不起”！但我得阻止你，貝絲，因為首先我有一個問題要問。我們知道英國人喜歡說對不起。事實上，最近的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，一些英國人每天要道歉多達20次。那么，根據(jù)同一項調(diào)查，平均每個英國人每天要說多少次對不起呢？是：

a)每天四次？

b)每天六次？或

c)每天8次？

Beth
I'm going to guess it’s six times a day.我猜是一天六次。

Neil
OK, Beth, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Since the British are famous for apologising it’s no surprise that Louise Mullany started researching the language of apologising in Britain, at the University of Nottingham. Now a professor of sociolinguistics, Louise spoke with BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth:

好吧，貝絲，我稍后會在節(jié)目中透露答案。由于英國人以道歉而聞名，路易絲·馬拉尼開始在英國諾丁漢大學(xué)研究道歉的語言也就不足為奇了。路易絲現(xiàn)在是社會語言學(xué)教授，路易絲接受BBC廣播4臺節(jié)目Word of Mouth的采訪：

Professor Louise Mullany
And I was really interested in looking at how people apologise, particularly?public figures?so I did a lot of research in the workplace and looking at the media, and looking at politicians in particular, and one of the things that really interested me at the time was a lot of writers were talking about us entering an age of an apology, and there's a real sense that public figures in particular are called upon to apologise for multiple different things, and if they don't apologise then that's a big?faux pas.

路易絲·穆拉尼教授和我很感興趣看看人們?nèi)绾蔚狼福绕涫枪娙宋锼晕易隽撕芏嘌芯吭诠ぷ鲌鏊?，看媒體，特別是政客，和真正感興趣的事情之一當(dāng)時是很多作家談?wù)撐覀冞M入一個時代的道歉，有一個真正的感覺，公眾人物尤其是呼吁為多個不同的事情道歉，如果他們不道歉，那是一個大的失禮。

Beth
Saying sorry is especially important in politics, and Professor Mullany studied the apologies of?public figures?– famous people, including politicians, who are often discussed in newspapers and seen on radio and television. When politicians make mistakes they are expected to apologise, and failing to say sorry is a?faux pas?– a remark made in a social situation that causes embarrassment or offence.

道歉在政治上尤其重要，馬拉尼教授研究了公眾人物的道歉——名人，包括政治家，他們經(jīng)常在報紙上討論，在廣播和電視上看到。當(dāng)政客們犯錯誤時，他們應(yīng)該道歉，而不道歉是一種失禮——一種在社會場合會引起尷尬或冒犯的言論。

Neil
Most politicians hate apologising and with good reason. Saying sorry means taking responsibility, and the apology needs to be sincere. A good example of this is the apology Boris Johnson made to the House of Commons during the 'Partygate' scandal in the UK when he broke COVID lockdown rules and had to pay a?fine?- a sum of money paid as a punishment for breaking the rules. Here, Professor Louise Mullany, analyses the apology for BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth:

大多數(shù)政客都討厭道歉，而且是有充分的理由道歉的。道歉意味著承擔(dān)責(zé)任，道歉需要很真誠。一個很好的例子是鮑里斯·約翰遜在英國“公園門”丑聞中向下議院道歉，當(dāng)時他違反了封鎖規(guī)定，不得不支付罰款——作為違反規(guī)定的懲罰。在這里，路易絲·穆拉尼教授分析了BBC廣播4臺的節(jié)目《Word of Mouth》的道歉：

Professor Louise Mullany
It's very unusual in a political apology because he comes out and says, ‘I am responsible’, but there is the?caveat?that he wasn't certain that he was breaking the rules, he didn't realise which he continues to say in his apology that came out after the?fine, so he repeats the apology, and he caveats it around other political events...?and he uses humility when he was in the House the day after he paid his fine, and was very quick to say, ‘I've paid the fine, I’ve given the reparation, I’ve paid the money, let's?draw a line under?the whole business now’.

路易絲·穆拉尼教授非常不尋常的政治道歉，因為他出來說，“我負責(zé)”，但有警告，他不確定他違反了規(guī)則，他沒有意識到他繼續(xù)說道歉，罰款后，所以他重復(fù)道歉，他警告其他政治事件…支付罰款的第二天，他在眾議院時，他很謙遜，很快說：“我已經(jīng)付了罰款，我賠償了，我已經(jīng)付了錢，現(xiàn)在我們?yōu)檎麄€行業(yè)劃清界限?！?/span>

Beth
Boris Johnson claimed he didn’t know he was breaking the rules. His apology contained a?caveat?– a warning that what he said was limited, or not completely true. Eventually, Boris Johnson did apologise, but many people didn’t trust him and he couldn’t?draw a line under?the 'Partygate' scandal. If you?draw a line under something, you try to move on from a bad situation and make a fresh start.

鮑里斯·約翰遜聲稱，他并不知道自己違反了規(guī)則。他的道歉包含了一個警告——警告說，他說的話是有限的，或者不完全正確。最終，鮑里斯·約翰遜確實道歉了，但很多人都不信任他，他也無法為“派對之門”丑聞劃定界限。如果你在某件事上劃清界限，你就會試圖從糟糕的情況中出發(fā)，重新開始。

Neil
Apologising is hard work – the apology must be sincere, and often the person does something to show they mean it. Which reminds me that it’s time to reveal the answer to my question, Beth.

道歉是一件艱苦的工作——道歉必須是真誠的，通常人們會做一些事情來表明他們是認真的。這提醒了我，是時候揭示我的問題的答案了，貝絲。

Beth
Yes. You asked me how many times a day the average Brit says sorry, and I guessed it was six. Was I right?

是你問我平均每個英國人每天說多少次對不起，我猜是六次。我是對的嗎？

Neil
Well, I’m very sorry, but that was… the wrong answer. The average Brit says sorry around eight times a day, making it probably the most over-used word in the English language. Sorry about that!

嗯，我很抱歉，但那是……錯誤的答案。一般英國人每天會說8次對不起，這可能是英語中使用最多的詞。很抱歉！

Beth
Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme about saying sorry, starting with?sarcastic, doing or saying the opposite of what you really mean, for example saying ‘I’m reeeally sorry!’, when you aren’t.

好吧，讓我們回顧一下我們從這個節(jié)目中學(xué)到的關(guān)于道歉，從諷刺開始，做或說與你真正意思相反的詞匯，例如說“我非常抱歉！””，而你卻不是。

Neil
A?public figure?is a famous person whose life and behaviour is often discussed in the media and in public.

公眾人物是指他的生活和行為經(jīng)常被媒體和公眾場合所討論的名人。

Beth
A?faux pas?is a socially embarrassing remark or action.

失禮是一種讓社會感到尷尬的言論或行為。

Neil
A?fine?is a sum of money paid as a punishment for doing something illegal or breaking a rule.

罰款是指因違法或違反規(guī)則而支付的一筆錢。

Beth
If you say something with a?caveat, it contains a warning that what you have said may not be completely true or is limited in some way.

如果你說了一個警告，它包含了一個警告，你說的可能不完全正確，或者在某種程度上是有限的。

Neil
And finally, if you?draw a line under something?you consider it finished in order to move on and make a fresh start. I’m sorry to say that, once again, our six minutes are up and it’s time to draw a line under this programme! Goodbye for now!

最后，如果你在某些東西下面畫了一條線，你會認為它已經(jīng)完成了，以便繼續(xù)前進，重新開始。我很抱歉地說，我們的六分鐘結(jié)束了，是時候在這個節(jié)目下劃界限了！再見了！

Beth
Bye!

?