‘I’m conscious that….’

[Blah1881]

Here’s one for you- what’s with people saying ‘I’m conscious that…’ when they should be saying sorry. For instance- the estate agent calls me 5 days after I left a message and says ‘now, I’m conscious that you left a message for me last week’…. And then again ‘I’m conscious that the property has been on the market for a month now’. is this just me? Am I being unreasonable? I just find it so pretentious and such a cop out!

Its the new "Manage your expectations"

Bore off. Just say sorry, d*ckhead..

It does sound like wanky business speak, yes. That said, on occasion apologising can create more problems than it solves. If there was an issue with your work I'd be acknowledging your position. Nice to feel seen. However - if said the words 'I'm sorry' to a certain sort of person that'd be akin to shark fishing without a tampon. Not everyone is reasonable and some individuals do hear sorry, think fault and seize opportunity. So it probably is a word some people are taught (in client management circumstances) to avoid. My first boss said 'NEVER apologise' and I thought he was being a macho dick. Turned out he actually had a valid point.

Do they need to say sorry for your house being on the market for a month?

It just means "I'm aware" to me, not "I'm sorry"

I’m with ‘aware’, and it might be more neutral than an apology.

if they haven’t responded in a timely manner you could always try ‘oh, I thought you might be unconscious’.

They're not apologising, but they are acknowledging it's not ideal on their end

Agree.

But they’re not apologising, are they? They’re not saying sorry for anything, just saying ‘I’m aware that this is the case’.

Yes, in your example, it's a pretentious cop out.

This.

Ask him or her if you could speak to someone who speaks English.

I’m with PPs on this. It means you’re aware of something, not apologising. I’ve been using it my whole adult life. If I need to say sorry for something I’ll just say sorry.

I don't get the apology part, it's just stating a fact isn't it? Harder to spell than know or realise 😀

Useful for people who can't say SORRY

Why would someone be apologising for the fact that someone else’s house hasn’t sold? It’s just an acknowledgment, surely? Not an apology.

The agent didn’t call me when they said they would…I do think ‘I’m conscious that we were due to speak last week’ is a pretentious cop out- what, I’m supposed to feel content that they are ‘aware’ they were supposed to call me, but didn’t? It is wanky. They have probably been told never to apologise on some training course or other. This sort of pseudo speak just really gets my goat