2 ms·
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 gene
by 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 agoIn the U.S. don't we generally use "for shame" when berating?
- pdabbadabba 12y agoYes. 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!"