In general "pardon" and "pardon me" mean the same thing as "excuse me" but are more formal. Improve this answer. Yes, "pardon" in British English is probably used more often than not in at least an interrogative and quite often a hostile or combative sense. I would avoid it as a synonym of "sorry", although it can function as a synonym of "excuse me" for bodily noises etc.
I'm in and from the UK and people say "sorry" all the time when they actually mean "Excuse me". For example, in our old office we shared a kitchen with another company, who we didn't know very well. If i was in the kitchen which was small and one of them walked round the corner, they'd stop on realising someone was there already and say "Sorry". This sort of thing bothers me because I'm then wondering if I'm required to reassure them or something.
It would be like if you came home and there was a tramp sitting on your doorstep; if you were British, you'd wait for a moment, then say "err, sorry, can i just English Bernard English Bernard 1. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook.
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Where are using? I want to speak English better. You too? Write me. It represents an open knowledge base. Every member can share and gain knowledge about a new language. Open Menu Questions back Recent Hot! Yes, I think this is a question of linguistic conventions changing over time. Evelyn Waugh was an English writer who died in the mids.
He was writing what he believed an American would say at that time. I think that today we are far more likely to hear "excuse me" than "pardon me" in American English.
In general, I hear "pardon me" from American mouths far less frequently these days than a decade or two ago. They seem to be saying "excuse me" in the same situations. Disclaimer: I haven't lived in the US in almost 30 years. I also hear Americans on TV shows and in movies. I'll stop talking now. Andygc Senior Member Devon. When I was a student all those years ago I spent my summer in Boston, working in a hospital research lab.
One day my mentor said something I did not hear clearly. The conversation then went: Me: Pardon? Him: Excuse me? Me: Pardon? Me: I beg your pardon? Him: Sorry, excuse me? About then we both realised that we were saying the same thing in two different languages. Kate Fox, wrote, in Watching the English the whole paragraph is at the link The word [pardon] is the most notorious pet hate of the upper and upper-middle classes.
I was taught in the 50's that 'pardon me' was used if you do something or to get someones attention. Excuse me was used if you are leaving. On the point of using "pardon me" or "excuse me" because a person did not hear something that was said: I've mostly heard that in situations where the person heard and understood exactly what was said, but used it as an expression of incredulity, shock, anger, and the like--something similar to "I know you didn't just say that.
Tom: Pardon me?
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