7 ms·

> Shame Poor word choice. There's no shame in being careful about the science and trying to represent it carefully in your press releases. Many non-science ty

> Shame Poor word choice. There's no shame in being careful about the science and trying to represent it carefully in your press releases. Many non-science types do not know that organic molecules can exist without life and will already be jumping to conclusions.

aaroninsf 12y ago
I believe OP shares your sentiments, and that you mistake the usage here. 'Shame' as used here is shorthand for 'that's a shame,' which used colloquially to express disappointment colored with sympathy and understanding, does not imply that any of the nominal subjects is being criticized. Source: I'm a native English speaker.
- TallGuyShort 12y ago
  I believe this is not the case in the US, at least in my experience. In South Africa people say "shame" to express pity for someone else (or even just when something is adorable) but when I say it hear I get weird looks :)
  - pdabbadabba 12y ago
    Native U.S. English speaker here: we do use the word "shame" as GP describes. We use "shame" both to say that someone should be ashamed and also to express general disappointment. (Though we would not use the word to talk about something that's merely adorable.) To my U.S.-English ears, swombat's use of the word "shame" seemed clearly of the "general disappointment" variety.
    - tomrod 12y ago
      In the U.S. don't we generally use "for shame" when berating?
      - pdabbadabba 12y ago
        Yes. But here the writer simply began a statement with the word "shame" and proceeded to give a sober explanation consistent more with disappointment than outrage. In this context, I think the better interpretation of the writer's sentiment is to read "shame" as, essentially, short for "it's a shame" rather than "for shame!"
  - publicfig 12y ago
    No, it is definitely a case in the US. In his sentence, you could expand it to "That's a shame" or "That's a crying shame", both idioms that can express that something is "unfortunate" or "disappointing", and does not always require a blame.
  - ChristianBundy 12y ago
    I'm a native English speaker and I was born and raised in the US (specifically the Pacific Northwest), and "shame" isn't weird at all. It's used to express disappointment – with or without blame.
  - TallGuyShort 12y ago
    Thanks for the responses everyone. I've been in the US 15 years now and I'm still never 100% sure about dialect differences :)
- Florin_Andrei 12y ago
  Isn't 'pity' fairly similar, or is it more commonly used in British English?
  - cbd1984 12y ago
    'Pity' would be a Britishism in this context, yes.

aaroninsf 12y ago

I believe OP shares your sentiments, and that you mistake the usage here. 'Shame' as used here is shorthand for 'that's a shame,' which used colloquially to express disappointment colored with sympathy and understanding, does not imply that any of the nominal subjects is being criticized. Source: I'm a native English speaker.

TallGuyShort 12y ago
I believe this is not the case in the US, at least in my experience. In South Africa people say "shame" to express pity for someone else (or even just when something is adorable) but when I say it hear I get weird looks :)
- pdabbadabba 12y ago
  Native U.S. English speaker here: we do use the word "shame" as GP describes. We use "shame" both to say that someone should be ashamed and also to express general disappointment. (Though we would not use the word to talk about something that's merely adorable.) To my U.S.-English ears, swombat's use of the word "shame" seemed clearly of the "general disappointment" variety.
  - tomrod 12y ago
    In the U.S. don't we generally use "for shame" when berating?
    - pdabbadabba 12y ago
      Yes. But here the writer simply began a statement with the word "shame" and proceeded to give a sober explanation consistent more with disappointment than outrage. In this context, I think the better interpretation of the writer's sentiment is to read "shame" as, essentially, short for "it's a shame" rather than "for shame!"
- publicfig 12y ago
  No, it is definitely a case in the US. In his sentence, you could expand it to "That's a shame" or "That's a crying shame", both idioms that can express that something is "unfortunate" or "disappointing", and does not always require a blame.
- ChristianBundy 12y ago
  I'm a native English speaker and I was born and raised in the US (specifically the Pacific Northwest), and "shame" isn't weird at all. It's used to express disappointment – with or without blame.
- TallGuyShort 12y ago
  Thanks for the responses everyone. I've been in the US 15 years now and I'm still never 100% sure about dialect differences :)
Florin_Andrei 12y ago
Isn't 'pity' fairly similar, or is it more commonly used in British English?
- cbd1984 12y ago
  'Pity' would be a Britishism in this context, yes.