【英文謬誤】I’ll Eat Humble Pie. 什麼是謙虛派?4步驟用英文得體道歉

claire y. w.
Office English
Published in
3 min readOct 6, 2017

Fred和他的課長在一家電子公司上班,一起負責公司最大的客戶,有天兩人意見分歧,課長說了一句:
I think I’m right, but if I’m wrong. I’ll eat humble pie.
Fred聽了心想,為什麼這時候跟「吃派」要扯上邊?還是吃「謙虛派」?
原來Eat humble pie跟吃派都沒關係,重點在humble,意思是指謙虛地承認錯誤,也有種不得不坦誠錯誤的意味,以下來看看怎麼用英文認錯、道歉。

步驟1. Eat humble pie 坦誠錯誤
The mayor had to eat humble pie and apologize for misleading many voters.
市長誤導了許多選民,所以他必須低頭認錯。
I think I’m right, but if I’m wrong. I’ll eat humble pie.
我認為我是正確的,如果我錯了,我會虛心認錯。

步驟2. I’m sorry but/I’m sorry that/I’m sorry for 誠摯道歉
I’m sorry but I won’t be able to attend the conference. 很抱歉但我沒辦法參與會議。
I’m sorry that I didn’t meet my obligations and complete my work on time. 我很抱歉我沒有準時完成工作,履行我的義務。
I’m sorry for replying so late. 很抱歉這麼晚才回覆。

步驟3. Make it up to you適度補償與賠罪
If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, just ask.

如果有什麼地方我可以補償你,儘管說。
She’d neglected her children and wanted to make it up to them by spending more time with them.
她忽略了她的小孩,所以希望可以多花一點時間來補償他們。

步驟4. Ensure that/Promise that確保…
The school will ensure that the election is carried out fairly.

學校會確保選舉執行公正。
I promise that I’ll meet my deadlines.
我保證我會趕在截止日完成。

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claire y. w.
Office English

A pro-am educator, a grounded dreamer, a daughter and a magazine editor. This is Claire’s flipped English studio.