A “fauxpology” (faux apology) is a fake apology or an insincere apology. The term “fauzpology” has been in use since at least February 6, 2005, and has been frequently used for political apologies. The term “fauxpology” was popularized when the Urban Dictionary made it the April 4, 2011 “Urban Word of the Day.”
 
 
Urban Dictionary
fauxpology
April 4, 2011 Urban Word of the Day
When a person makes it sound like they are apologizing when, in fact, they are just shifting the blame or using twisted logic to argue their way out of responsibility for their actions.
When George said, “I guess we all just have to accept some of the blame here,” I stopped listening because I knew it was just going to be another fauxpology.
by 52tease Dec 10, 2006
 
Tribe
Fauxpologies
topic posted Sun, February 6, 2005 - 1:55 AM by gregóire
at’s my cute word for what I believe to be inauthentic apologies.
 
I offer this because I see fauxpologies quite often, even here on Extreme Honesty. I’ll rough out what I feel makes a good apology, and I welcome feedback.
 
26 June 2005, Salt Lake Tribune(Salt Lake City, UT), “Hey Rove, ‘sorry’ can’t kill you” by Holly Mullen, pg. B1:
But his Republican foes labeled it a “fauxpology.” Just not good enough.
 
Ideal Pragmatist
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
When an apology is not an apology
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Often, people will use a rhetorical trick in which they make a statement that has a lot of the superficial trappings of an apology, but without one or both of those basic criteria of form. I call these statements “fauxpologies.” One classic type of fauxpology is to say something like: “I’m sorry that you’re upset about me borrowing your jacket without asking.” This fulfills the regret criterion, but not the responsibility criterion, since the speaker is expressing regret not for an action, but for someone else’s emotion. Another classic type of fauxpology is to say something like: “I’m sorry if I borrowed your jacket without asking.”
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COMMENTS
Rivka said…
Oh, I love the word “fauxpology.” I was quite familiar with the concept, of course, but didn’t have a good term for it before.
 
The Old New Thing
The politician’s fallacy and the politician’s apology
Raymond Chen - MSFT
26 Feb 2007 10:00 AM
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Something else I picked up is what I’m going to call the politician’s apology. This is where you apologize for a misdeed not by apologizing for what you did, but rather apologizing that other people were offended. One blogger coined the word “fauxpology” to describe this sort of non-apology. In other words, you’re not apologizing at all! It’s like the childhood non-apology.
 
“Apologize to your sister for calling her ugly.”
 
“I’m sorry you’re ugly.”
 
In the politician’s apology, you apologize not for the offense itself, but for the fact that what you did offended someone. “I’m sorry you’re a hypersensitive crybaby.”
   
The AtHome Pilgrim
APRIL 1, 2011 8:51AM
Puns and Neologisms for April Fool’s Day
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fauxpology: the apology written by a publicist for a celebrity or politician