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Peaceblinkfriend Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

meaning of "hate to break it to you, but..."

0 What exactly does 'hate to break it to you' mean here? 02br
01i01font00Hate to break it to you,02font00 but that's not how it 02i00works.02br
00 It's a line from the TV series The Office when Jim refuses to tell Pam when he's going to propose to her. 02br
01i00Have I not proposed to you yet02i00?02br
00Hmmm, I don't know...02br
01i00Oh, well, that's coming02i00... 02br
00Oh. Right now?!02br
01i00No. Not gonna do it right here, that would be rather lame.02br
02i00Okay, so then, when?02br
01i00Pam, I'm not gonna tell you. Hate to break it to you, but that's not how it works.02i02br
02br
00Thanks02br
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00PBF 0-
  

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6 Answers
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0I guess it's borrowed from the common expression "hate to break the news".02br
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00In this context, I interpret it as I hate to tell you that ...0-
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0 I'm sorry to be the person who has to tell you, but..... 0-
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0As a footnote: 02br
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00"I hate to break it to you, but..." tends to occur in humorous or ironic contexts, where "I hate to break it to you, but" prepares the addressee for "bad news", but in fact precedes a trivial statement (e.g. "your zip is undone").02br
02br
00You would not (for instance) say "I hate to break it to you, Algernon; but your dog was
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0 Thanks for all of your replies.02br
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wow, that was really helpful! I learned that phrase from a video game.....I thought It meant something like...."I hate to interrupt you, but.." or " I'm affraid to tell you that..."
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Very interesting!
Thank so much
m.
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