When to say sorry, excuse me, or offer an apology?

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Spirit
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So Hi,

I heard once people talking about when to say: 'sorry' or 'excuse me' or offer an apology. it was brief and i heard it 'from the tip of my ear'.

Any inputs regarding this matter is appreciated!
 
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I would have said: "I only heard it out of the corner of my ear." This would be an amusing comparison of hearing to vision, by hijacking the turn of speech about only seeing something out of the corner of your eye (i.e. only in your peripheral vision) and employing it to paint a picture of only having heard something vaguely because the sound was too soft or because you weren't paying full attention to a background conversation.

Instead, you're performing an infelicitous hijacking of the turn of speech about something being on the tip of your tongue.
 
Aww, gee, zooby, cut some slack. What would Donald Duck say?
 
selfAdjoint said:
Aww, gee, zooby, cut some slack. What would Donald Duck say?
I was setting it up so someone could come back and advise him that at this point he could reply: "Well, EXCUUUUUSSEEE MEEE!."