A fellow who wrote in to correct us about the proper day to mark National Licorice Day—it is April 12th, not, as we said, April 11th—reminded us of how very sweet a good apology can be. So we'll begin by saying: sorry; it was a simple error that we certainly should have caught. (来源：www.EnglishCN.com)

Now that we've apologized, we feel justified in checking out the story behind the word apology. Originally, back in the 1500s, an apology was "a formal justification;" a "defense;" that sense was very quickly followed by the one naming "an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret." The latter sense is the one we intended by our apology, but it's the former sense that makes the news so frequently.

Why? Because to many onlookers, public apologies seem to make clear the grounds for some course, belief, or position, while admitting little or nothing about guilt or regret. That sort of apology resembles an apologia more than it does the apology sought by those who believe in taking responsibility.

But since apologia did not appear in print until the late 1700s, for close to 200 years, apology was being used for both senses. And, as recently as 40 years ago, editors working on the Unabridged Dictionary noted that sometimes apology, like apologia, is used without suggestions of guilt or error, simply to indicate an explanation for a course or belief.