Compunction (pronounced kuhm-puhngk-shuhn)
(1) A
feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing
wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse; sorrow.
(2) Any
uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.
1350–1400:
From the Middle English compunccion, from
the Old French compunction (from
which in the twelfth century Modern French gained compunction), from the Late Latin compunctionem (a pricking) & compūnctiōn- (stem of the Ecclesiastical Latin compunctiō) (remorse; a stinging or pricking (of one’s guilty conscience)),
the construct being the Classical Latin compūnct(us) (past participle of compungere (to sting; severely to prick),
the construct of which was (com- (used as an intensive prefix) + pungere (to prick; to puncture) (from a suffixed
form of the primitive Indo-European root peuk-
(to prick)) + -iōn- (stem of –iō and a suffix forming nouns, used especially
on past participle stems). The origin of
the meaning in Latin (transferred from the element pungere (to prick; to puncture)) was the idea of “a pricking of one’s
guilty conscience” which could induce some feeling of regret although, like
many injuries cause by pin-pricks, recovery was often rapid. The adjective compunctious (causing
compunction, pricking the conscience) dates from the late sixteenth century. Compunction & compunctiousness are nouns,
compunctious & compunctionless are adjectives and compunctiously is an adverb;
the noun plural is compunctions.
The Ecclesiastical
Latin compunctiō (and compunction in
other forms) appears frequently in the texts of the early Church, used in a figurative
sense originally to convey a more intense sense of “contrition” or “remorse”
than that familiar in modern use. Contrition
and remorse were of course a thing vital for the Church to foster, indeed to
demand of the congregation. The very structure
of Christianity was built upon the idea that all were born in a state of guilt
because the very act of conception depending upon an original sin and this was
what made Jesus unique: the virgin birth meant Christ was born without sin
although centuries of theological squabbles would ensue as the debate swirled
about his nature as (1) man, (2) the son of God and (3) God. That was too abstract for most which was fine
with the priests who preferred to focus on the guilt of their flock and their own
importance as the intermediaries between God and sinner, there to arrange
forgiveness, something which turned out to be a commodity and commodities are
there to be sold. Forgiveness was really
the first futures market and compunction was one of the currencies although
gold and other mediums of exchange would also figure.
Sorry (Regretful
or apologetic for one's actions) was from the From Middle English sory, from the Old English sāriġ (feeling or expressing grief,
sorry, grieved, sorrowful, sad, mournful, bitter), from the Proto-West Germanic
sairag, from the Proto-Germanic sairagaz (sad), from the primitive Indo-European
seh₂yro (hard, rough, painful). It was cognate with the Scots sairie (sad, grieved), the Saterland
Frisian seerich (sore, inflamed), the
West Frisian searich (sad, sorry), the
Low German serig (sick, scabby), the German
dialectal sehrig (sore, sad, painful)
and the Swedish sårig. Remarkably, despite the similarities in
spelling and meaning, “sorry” is etymologically unrelated to “sorrow”. Sorrow (a state of woe; unhappiness) was from
the Middle English sorow, sorwe, sorghe
& sorȝe, from the Old English sorg & sorh (care,
anxiety, sorrow, grief), from the Proto-West Germanic sorgu, from the Proto-Germanic surgō (which may be compared with the West
Frisian soarch, the Dutch zorg, the German Sorge, and the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from the primitive Indo-European swergh (watch over, worry; be ill, suffer) (which may be
compared with the Old Irish serg
(sickness), the Tocharian B sark
(sickness), the Lithuanian sirgti (be
sick) and the Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati) (worry).
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard saying sorry in Australia and Johnny Depp deconstructing sorry in London.
Sorry indicates
(1) one is regretful or apologetic for one’s thoughts or actions but it can
also mean (2) one is grieved or saddened (especially by the loss of something
or someone), (3) someone or something is in a sad or regrettable state or (4) someone
or something is hopelessly inadequate for their intended role or purpose. Such is human nature that expressions of
sorry in the sense of an apology are among the more common exchanges and one
suspects something like the 80/20 rule applies: 80% of apologies are offered by
(or extracted from) 20% of the population.
So frequent are they that an art has evolved to produce phrases by which
an apology can be delivered in which sorry is somehow said without actually
saying sorry. This is the compunction one
fells when one is not feeling compunctious and a classic example was provided
when the once (perhaps then happily) married actors Johnny Depp (b 1963) & Amber
Heard (b 1986) were in 2015 caught bringing two pet dogs into Australia in
violation of the country’s strict biosecurity laws. Ms Heard pleaded guilty to falsifying
quarantine documents, stating in mitigation her mistake was induced by “sleep
deprivation”. No conviction was recorded
(the maximum sentence available being ten years in jail) and she was placed on
a Aus$1,000 one-month good behavior bond, the couple ordered to make a “public
apology” and that they did, a short video provided, the script unexceptional but
the performances something like a Monty Python sketch. However, whatever the brief performance
lacked in sincerity, as free advertising for the biosecurity regime, it was
invaluable. Mr Depp later returned to
the subject when promoting a film in London.
The
synonyms for “sorry” (as in an apology) include regret, apologize, compunctious,
contrite, penitent, regretful, remorseful & repentant (which is more a
subsequent act). Practiced in the art of
the “non-apologetic” apology are politicians (some of whom have honed it to the
point where it’s more a science) who have a number of ways of nuancing
things. Sometimes the excuse is that
simply to say “sorry” might subsequent legal proceedings be construed as an
admission of liability, thus exposing the exchequer and there was some basis
for that concept which has prompted some jurisdictions explicitly to write into
legislation that in traffic accidents and such, simply to say “sorry” cannot be
construed as such an admission. That of
course has had no apparent effect on the behaviour of politicians. Even when there is no possibly of exposing
the state to some sort of claim, politicians are still averse to anything like
the word “sorry” because it’s seen as a “loss of face” and a victory for one’s
opponents.
There
are exceptions. Some politicians,
especially during periods of high popularity, worked out that such was the
novelty, saying sorry could work quite well, especially if delivered in a
manner which seemed sincere (and the right subject, in the right hands, can learn
such tricks) although some who found it worked did overdo it, the repetition
making it clear it was just another cynical tactic. An example was Peter Beattie (b 1952; Premier
of Queensland 1998-2007) who found the electorate responded well to a leader
saying sorry but such was the low quality of the government he headed that
there was often something for which to apologize and having set the precedent,
he felt compelled to carry on until the sheer repetitive volume of the compunctiousness
began merely to draw attention to all the incompetence.
Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.
The
other exception is the set-piece event.
This is where a politician apologizes on behalf of someone else (a
previous government, hopefully the opposition or something a vague as the
nation in some dim, distant past) while making it clear that personally it’s
nothing to do with them personally.
There has been a spate of these in recent decades, many apologizing for egregiously
appalling acts by white men against ethnic minorities, indigenous populations,
the disabled or other powerless groups.
Again, some of the apologies have been in the form of “personally sorry
it happened”, thereby ticking the box without costing anything; people like and
indigenous population apparently deserving words but not compensation. For the rest of us, ranging from the
genuinely sincere to the cynically opportunistic nihilistic psychopaths, the
most obvious tool is the adverb: to say “I am so sorry” can be more effective
than “I’m sorry” provided the tone of voice, inflections and the non-verbal
clues are all in accord. Sorry is recommend
by many because it so easily can be made to sound sincere with a ease that’s
challenging with compunctious, contrite, penitent, regretful, and remorseful,
the longer words ideal for one politician “apologizing” to another in a form
which is linguistically correct while being quite contemptuous.
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