apology
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:43 pm
Apology (noun)
1. A statement of regret for a fault or misdeed.
2. A defence or justification of something.
3. A poor example or poor substitute.
(Via Latin from Greek apologia, from apo, away from, and logos, speech)
Examples of the above senses:
(1) The singer issued an apology for his drunken behaviour.
(2) Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations is an apology for free-market economics.
(3) It is not surprising that such an apology for a king was soon overthrown.
In senses 1 and 2, apology is a contranym: (2) is an argument that something is justified, whereas (1) is an admission that it is not. This can lead to ambiguity, e.g:
"The Pope's speech was an apology for the Inquisition."
It can also be used to mean a mixture of justification and regret, e.g:
"I would like to make an apology for my absence yesterday; I had urgent business elsewhere."
So it is something of a weasel word.
1. A statement of regret for a fault or misdeed.
2. A defence or justification of something.
3. A poor example or poor substitute.
(Via Latin from Greek apologia, from apo, away from, and logos, speech)
Examples of the above senses:
(1) The singer issued an apology for his drunken behaviour.
(2) Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations is an apology for free-market economics.
(3) It is not surprising that such an apology for a king was soon overthrown.
In senses 1 and 2, apology is a contranym: (2) is an argument that something is justified, whereas (1) is an admission that it is not. This can lead to ambiguity, e.g:
"The Pope's speech was an apology for the Inquisition."
It can also be used to mean a mixture of justification and regret, e.g:
"I would like to make an apology for my absence yesterday; I had urgent business elsewhere."
So it is something of a weasel word.