Thu 20 April 2006 - You’re right
“Sorry.”
“No; you’re right.”
I’m not sure where I picked it up, but it seems to be a new speech pattern that’s entered the language that makes much more sense than the higher-profile “Yeah, no, yeah.”
If someone says sorry, but it’s for something they really shouldn’t be apologising for, I won’t say “That’s okay”, because that’s like saying it was their fault.
“You’re right” conveys that they either they’ve done nothing wrong, or at least that whatever happened was a genuine accident.
So to the guy who didn’t see me and walked out of the gate with a ladder, blocking the footpath for all of 5 seconds as I was trying to walk past, it was nice of you to say “Sorry”, but you’re right. No blame apportioned. Have a nice day.