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I'm Sorry, But May We Discuss Tentative Speech?

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A recent New York Times opinion piece claimed that women apologize all the time – even when something is not their fault. It’s known as “tentative” or “indirect” speech, when people – usually women – start their sentences with “I’m sorry” or “If you don’t mind.” Is this something you do? Have you tried to change the way you speak – or do you use it to your advantage? We’ll dig into the nuances of tentative speech… if you don’t mind us doing that.

Guests:

Robin Lakoff, UC Berkeley professor emerita in linguistics

Deborah Tannen, Georgetown University professor of linguistics

Cristen Conger, co-creator and host of "Stuff Mom Never Told You"

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