So, you are walking down a hall in a building and as you reach the intersection with another hall, someone else is also entering the intersection. Or you approach a doorway and someone else approaches it from the other side at the same time. Each person sidesteps a bit and there is no contact or inconvenience. The people involve say either "Sorry" or "Excuse me". Which do you generally say in that situation?

By Kate on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 06:47 pm:

For me it depends on who the person is. If I know them and are friendly with them I usually laugh and say sorry...but if it's someone I don't know I'm more formal and say excuse me.

By Yjja123 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 06:54 pm:

I say excuse me.

By Vicki on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:01 pm:

I say excuse me also.

By Bellajoe on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:07 pm:

Excuse me

By Wahoo on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:08 pm:

It is a really good English lesson to me!! Please go on.
I would say "Excuse me".

By Dawnk777 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:33 pm:

I would say, "Excuse me."

By Reds9298 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:43 pm:

Excuse me

By Pamt on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 07:48 pm:

Shall we dance?

(Really that is what I say if I know the person or in a moment of levity. Otherwise, I honestly don't know if it would be sorry or excuse me---either one sounds fine to me.)

By Annie2 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 08:00 pm:

I think I usually say "Oh sorry, excuse me" or "sorry, pardon me" to a stranger. I've never encountered a friend in this situation.
Why...what's up?

By Kaye on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 08:08 pm:

LOL pam...i typically say "thanks for the dance", or if I don't know them, excuse me.

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 08:11 pm:

We could dance if I weren't Baptist!

or

"scuse me."

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 08:35 pm:

I've noticed that most of the people I encounter this way - coworkers or just other people who work in the same building - say "Sorry". And for the life of me, unless there is a bump or a real inconvenience, I don't understand why someone would apologize (say "Sorry") in that situation. I usually say "excuse me", or "pardon", or if it is the third or so time in a few days that I've encountered a co-worker like that, I'll say "we've really got to stop meeting like this". Sadly, few people are old enough to understand if I were to say "After you, Alphonse", which is my first impulse.
Alphonse

I'm not old enough to have personal knowledge of the Alphonse schtick, but I remember hearing that catchphrase.

By Annie2 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 09:05 pm:

Ginny, this reminds me of a class I had in 8th grade. My English teacher told us that she never uses the word sorry..not even at funerals.
It has stuck with me for years. I also try not to use the word "got"....there is always a better word for that one.
Looking at link now...

By Dawnk777 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 09:43 pm:

Shall we dance? That's the one I couldn't think of, before! That's what I'd say to coworker or friend, that I bumped into and was trying to get around!

By Crystal915 on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 11:29 pm:

I would say "Excuse me."

By Mlee on Monday, February 4, 2008 - 11:57 pm:

Okay, here's my half-educated guess.

First I'll borrow from people who study animal behavior. In this situation the human-critters want to tell each other, "Although I seem to have gotten into your territory or path, I am not an agressor or competitor and I hope that you are just going to go peacefully on your way."
This takes a while to say, so we (people) invented the phrase "Excuse me."

However, people who study the history of language have found that humans are a bit lazy. Why use two words when one will do? Why go to the extreme effort of speaking three syllables when you can mumble two? Maybe "sorry" doesn't exactly make sense, but it sounds generally humble, and it's even quicker than "excuse me."

How's that for a theory?

It could happen that someday our culture will develop a ritual dance for going through doors like that and future anthropologists will trace its origins to this very thread!

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 07:02 am:

I do exactly what Pamt does! LOL I've said *shall we dance* as long as I can remember....only sometimes it comes out as *want to dance?* Sometimes I say *sorry*, others *excuse me*, and still others, I step aside and offer my hand out in the *you go first* gesture.

By Vicki on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 08:58 am:

Now that I think more about it, I guess I have said sorry when this has happened and no bumping into each other has happened. I think I would say sorry if it were a surprise and I might have startled them. Like when you come to the end of the isle in the grocery store, turn the corner and there is someone. We might not hit carts, but the startle factor is there, I think I say sorry then. Actually, I think I say sorry and excuse me in that situation..... I guess I never thought about it before. LOL

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 12:08 pm:

I think people over use the word Sorry.

Sorry:
1 : feeling sorrow, regret, or penitence 2 : mournful sad 3 : inspiring sorrow, pity, scorn, or ridicule : pitiful

Sorry would be appropriate in a situation when you startle or bump into someone, otherwise it should be a simple "Excuse me." or "Pardon me." Sorry implies you did something wrong, by simply walking you have done nothing wrong and it is a hollow use of the word. Sorry, has to have meaning to the person saying it, other wise it just means "pitiful" in my opinion.


If I bump/encounter someone I know then I will pop off with a joke, but I don't apologize for trying to get from point A to point B. Nor do I want them to apologize to me. We get in each others way, it is no ones fault, thus an apology is not needed.

By Tink on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 02:28 pm:

I say "Sorry" but my dh accuses me of apologizing for everything so I definitely overuse the word. In that situation, I'd be apologizing for being in someone else's way. But you're right, excuse me would be more appropriate.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 08:14 pm:

I think a lot of people over use the word, I have my theory of why, but I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone.