Regretbut

Regretbut is a term used in contemporary linguistics and internet discourse to describe a pragmatic pattern in which a speaker expresses regret and immediately follows with a concessive clause introduced by but or yet. The construction foregrounds an affective stance while steering the conversation toward a corrective or reconciliatory interpretation.

The typical form involves a first clause that signals regret, followed by a but-clause that relocates the discussion toward a mitigated or alternate stance. Examples include: I regret shouting at him yesterday, but I’ve apologized and we’ve moved on. I regret missing the meeting, but I learned more from the recording. In discourse, the pattern can function to acknowledge fault while permitting a positive or pragmatic continuation, softening a direct contradiction and smoothing social interaction.

Origin and reception: Regretbut appears to have emerged in online language forums and corpus discussions in the early 2020s as a shorthand descriptor for this recurring communicative move. It is most commonly found in informal spoken language, social media posts, and political commentary. Some linguists regard regretbut as a useful label for a recognizable speech act, while others argue it describes a broad pragmatic pattern rather than a distinct syntactic category. The term remains informal and not universally standardized.

See also: discourse markers, concessive clauses, hedging, apology in conversation.