Whenever there's a corporate spokesperson making one of their typically mealy-mouthed apologies for something that's happened as a result of their product - in this case Toyota - they use the following phrase "We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers/drivers/etc".

Here's the question: do you hear them saying "We apologise for any [and all] inconvenience that was caused" or do you hear "We apologise if there was any inconvenience caused"?

Because the "any" makes me think they're hedging. As in, "if we say that inconvenience was caused, we're admitting liability, and that opens up a whole can of worms".

But if we say "any", it's conjecture, and therefor we're apologising for the inconvenience, and not for the product that may or may not have caused it.

Do you get my drift? Thoughts?

Shortly after we bought our latest Yaris, I was driving through Highgate and the accelerator stuck on. Very, very scary it was. Especially in rush-hour. Apparently it was the mat in the driver's side that had slipped; something we'd been warned might happen when we bought the car...

"We apologise for any pants that may have been soiled."

Indeed.

To go back to your original point, it is clearly not meant by the speaker (and his/her employer) to be an admission that there was/is any inconvenience. Your sense of it being a hedge is exactly right.

And there are always some sickos who, far from being inconvenienced, might actually have liked it.

Here's another one that bothers me:

"Toyota says it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems...".

About? Wouldn't 'approximately' or 'nearly'/'more than' sound a bit more informed?

'About' is what children say when they're guessing; "She's about...um....five years old."

Or, as is often the case, is it just me who hears it this way?

But "about", in this context anyway, does mean "approximately".

Perhaps it's because WOM pronounces it "aboot" . . .

Oh, I know. I just think it sounds awful. About, for whatever reason, sounds like they're guessing while approximately sounds like it's based on some credible calculations.

Like I said, could just be my ear. The one I read with, like.

ursus arctos wrote:
Perhaps it's because WOM pronounces it "aboot" . . .

That's a big myth, eh.

Of course it is.

If it makes you feel any better, my guess was that the choice of "about" was a style decision by whatever source you took the quote from. That seems to be the case, as Toyota's press release uses your preferred formulation of "approximately".

It wouldn't surprise me at all if USA Today-type outlets automaticaly converted "approximately" to "about" or "around".

That's the thing: it was the CBC. I hope they've not adopted the USA Today style sheet.

You can take it up with this guy.

Ah. Excellent. He'll rue the day...