Regret or Apology? When does saying you're sorry go from an expression of regret to an apology? The sad thing about this is that some people don't know the difference. Deborah Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, reports: "The First Lady… 'I regret very much that the efforts on health care were badly misunderstood, taken out of context, and used politically against the Administration. I take responsibility for that, and I'm very sorry for that' she said. The first part of the quote clearly indicates that the fault was not with her actions... but rather with the way they were received and distorted by others. But b