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Comment by analog31 | Hacker News Reader

Oddly enough "sorry" is also quite common in the upper Midwest US. If I bump into someone else by accident, and it's my fault, they will reflexively say "sorry."

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Yeah, this would read just as well for the upper midwest. Although "Ope!" is also interchangeable with sorry in a lot of situations.

This is use in Australia and is short for ”oops, sorry about that”.

"Ope" is in use in Australia? Sandgroper here and I've never heard it before. Is it only in certain cities, or a generational / social group thing? Or do I just need to get away from screens more often?

It’s probably just me. Tend to pick up things I’ve heard once somewhere.

On the other hand, I hadn’t heard sandgroper before and had to search to find out it meant Western Australian. Although, I definitely don’t get out much.

Sandgroper is just a shibboleth for Perth & WA people, I think, but it might also be generational. I'm old enough that Fat Cat & Humphrey B Bear mean something to me and are a shared experience, but probably not for people younger than me.

Helpful off-topic instructional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWv3L6J1YVE

But saying sorry as a pre-emptive "oops didn't mean to step in front of you, mate" (when the other person had clearly walked into you), that has existed in Perth as long as I can remember.

How about Humphrey B. Flaubert (or Humphrey B. Flow Bear, if you prefer)?

From Green Bay to Dickinson, the complete utterance is “Op Sorry.” If one is not in a hurry it is sometimes “Oops, Sorry.”

I say "ope, sorry". Never realized it until I saw the midwest memes.

That's quite a ways.

I'd argue it's not just Green Bay-Dickenson on the east end, but also extending to like souix falls/Fargo on the west end

"Oop, sorry" was viscerally familiar to me

In Los Angeles, its the same in person, in a car it's the finger. (Unfortunately)

A hippie driving a VW Microbus leaned out the window and flashed me a peace sign, so I gave him half a peace sign in response.

Yeah I'm from Kansas and none of these meanings were new to me.

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