Where does the expression "I beg your pardon" come from?
by 
tutushaker
ANSWERS: 1
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"Beg" and "pardon" both came into English via medieval French. Literally, it's an apology: I ask your forgiveness. Do you mean, maybe, why do we use it to ask a person to repeat what she/he said? I think it came to be used that way because we ARE putting the person to some inconvenience, to repeat what was said. Some of our polite expressions do seem a bit like overkill, when we analyze them. "Please" is short for "If you please," which used to be "If IT you please" (i.e. if it pleases you). We'd be poorer as a society without politeness formulas, though.
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