"Sorry" on Trial

[jack]

I'd be awful in court.

Q. Mr. Daemon, is this the man you saw?
A. It looks like him.
Q. It looks like him? Can't you be more certain?
A. Well, I don't know for certain that he doesn't have a twin brother or coincidental lookalike. I did swear an oath...
Q. Please, leave those questions to me.
A. But, if I'd said he was, you might have sprung the twin thing. "Yes" means anything from "Pretty sure (85%)" to "Certain (98%)" in colloquial speech, but those are too different when someone's liberty is at stake.
Q. Are you in contempt of court?
A. I don't know. That sounds like it has a specific legal definition, and as I'm not a trained jurist I'm not competent to say.
Q. Mr. Daemon! You say, "No, Your Honour." Is that clear?
A. No, Your Honour.
Q. Wait, is that "No, that isn't clear, Your Honour?" or "No, I'm not in contempt, Your Honour?"
A. Yes.
Q. 30 days!

Seriously, I think too much about saying things. What does everyone else do? Probably say what they really mean, eg. "I'm sorry, can we be friends?"

"Sorry" being an extremely ambiguous word. I can just hear the exchange in court. "No, I didn't admit culpability. I said I was sorry. There are are number of citations I can point you to on the meaning of the word..." Specifcally:

(1) You have my sympathy. I had nothing to do with it. Is there anything I can do to help? Eg. I'm sorry your mother was devoured by rabid armadillos[1].
(2) I caused it, but could not have reasonably prevented it. I wish it hadn't happened, but can't really do anything about not doing it again. Is there anything I can do to help? Eg. "I'm sorry," when I trod on your toe, even I wasn't at fault.
(3) I was careless. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I should ideally have been paying more attention. I hope I don't do anything like it again, but experience suggests I will at some point. Can I make it up to you? Eg. "Sorry I trod on your toe again."
(4) I was weak. I didn't want to hurt you, but I did something I knew was stupid. Can I make it up to you? Eg. "I'm sorry didn't go out for more milk. I really meant to."
(5) I did something bad. I really shouldn't have, I won't again. I know I can't repair it, but I wish I could make partial amends. Eg. "I'm sorry I ate your cake."

Also, some without specified fault, some more commonly desirable than others, not in any order.

(A) I'm not sure where this falls, but we're friends, so we apologise and leave it there, knowing no hurt is intended in the future. Eg. "I'm sorry I shouted." "No, I'm sorry I did that." "It's ok. Friends?"
(B) I really can't be bothered to work it out and it probably won't happen again, so let's just get this over with. Eg. "Dear Sir, We apologise for the inconvenience..."
(C) I didn't do anything wrong, but I have to reply. I'm going to be sarcastic now. Eg. "Yeah, I'm so sorry. *thrrrrp*"
(D) I don't think I did anything wrong, but you can hurt me, so I'm going to do everything I can to please you including apologising and trying to avoid whatever it is I didn't do. Eg. "I'm sorry, officer..."
(E) I fancy this guy/girl so I'm going to not pay attention to what s/he thinks and just agree with him/her in the hopes of getting some. Eg. "I'm sorry I insulted your insane beliefs about rabid armadillos. Can we kiss and make up?"

I think they all have a place, even B and C, though those *often* belitte the actual harm, and then are rather insulting.

And also, when the categories overlap communication can break down. Eg. "I know they were my armadillos, but how was I to know they were rabid? I was expressing non-culpable regret about your mother, not guilt."

rochvelleth, did ancient greek have ten different words for this to avoid that confusion?

Before anyone asks, someone made an intended to be amusing comment that potentially gave people a bad impression of someone. It was in retrospect somewhat reckless, but not absurdly so (I think). Saying "sorry" led to this discussion in brief.

[1] I would say "If your mother was actually devoured by rabid armadillos, I'm sorry," but that would be a bit circular.