There seem to be a few different ways of apologizing in Chinese, but is it always correct to say buhaoyise, for instance?
buhaoyisi is stronger than duibuqi, kind of like the difference between “I’m awfully sorry” and “Excuse me”.
phai-se is Taiwanese for “I’m sorry”.
That’s not correct.
funkymonkey is right. Perhaps there are there instances where buhaoyisi is stronger than duibuqi, but in general, buhaoyisi is definitely softer.
Imagine your wife catches you snuggling up to your secretary in your matrimonial bed. After she calms down enough to let you speak, you say…buhaoyisi?! 
To answer the OP’s question, buhaoyisi should not be used for serious emotional apologies. For business use, serious apologies should use words like qian4yi4 歉意 (noun). Other ways to apologize include bao4qian4 抱歉 (verb) and dao4qian4 道歉 (verb).
The scenario I was thinking of was bumping into someone while standing in a bus when it lurches forward.
How about “Care to join us?” 
The scenario I was thinking of was bumping into someone while standing in a bus when it lurches forward.[/quote]
I think either one is fine in this instance and neither is much stronger than the other. You can even use bao4qian4 if you want. I guess word usage along with body language and tone of voice accounts for how sorry one appears to be.
Still, if you’re apologizing to an angry SO, buhaoyisi is not the way to go as it really implies, “sorry you’re mad, but too bad”. Go with “Wo zhende zhende zhende hen duibuqi…qing yuanliang wo…”.
So far as I can tell, “buhaoyisi” means “I don’t give a shit about your problems”, and “paisay” means “I’m only pretending to give a shit about your problems so I can get out of here”.
I guess “duibuqi” actually means “I’m sorry”, because when I say it in 7-11s after I give them the wrong change or whatever, they are always astonished by it, and get all awkward.
duibuqi = sorry/excuse me
bu hao yisi = not good feeling (embarressing)
[quote=“Acute”]duibuqi = sorry/excuse me
bu hao yisi = not good feeling (embarressing)[/quote]
Are you Taiwanese? Since you obviously haven’t read the thread properly, I suppose so.
Like many English learners, you assume that there is a one-to-one mapping between English and Chinese words. 不好意思 cam mean embarrassed, but in these examples it means sorry. If you bump into someone you say buhaoyisi or pai-se, not duibuqi.
In this situation, 不好意思 is used more often, but 對不起 is also perfectly acceptable.
bu hao yi shi is mandarin for pai say. Exactly the same meaning. It is used in many forms as follows:
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someone such as a business associate picks up the tab for dinner. You say buhaoyishi or paisay. ITs a form of thank you but you shouldnt have. (but actually glad you did).
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you step on someones toe on the bus. You can say buhaoyishi or paisay or dwaybuchee.
IN this case meaning : IM sorry what a klutz I am. -
Your boss catching you doing something you shouldnt be. YOu say TWAY BU CHEE LAO BAN> meaning sorry boss !!!
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Your boss gives you a gift . You say shieh shieh buhaoyishi la. meaning thank you thank you, oh you shoulnt have (but glad u did).
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Your wife catches you eyeballing the girl on the bus. You say dway bu chee Lao pwoh. MEANING : Sorrry wifey.
ok still confused?
[quote=“tommy525”]
- Your wife catches you eyeballing the girl on the bus. You say dway bu chee Lao pwoh. MEANING : Sorrry wifey.
ok still confused?[/quote]
What if your wife catches you touching a girl on the bus?
[quote=“Rabidpie”][quote=“tommy525”]
- Your wife catches you eyeballing the girl on the bus. You say dway bu chee Lao pwoh. MEANING : Sorrry wifey.
ok still confused?[/quote]
What if your wife catches you touching a girl on the bus?[/quote]
Then you put on this quizzical expression and say ""summa ?? “”
bao4qian4 抱歉 = shihle 失禮
It’s rather formal. Use it in business or service occasions to apologize to your customers for your fault.
「我為此感到相當抱歉。」I’m so sorry for it. (Politicians sometimes say it.)
「很抱歉，您的帳戶已經不存在了」。 We’re very sorry. Your account is no longer valid.
「抱歉，讓你久等了」Sorry that I kept you waiting.
buhaoyishi 不好意思 = painnse 歹勢
- Excuse me. 「不好意思，借過一下。」 Excuse me, please allow me to pass
- to be apologetic and embarrassed a) 「不好意思，麻煩你了。」I’m rather embarrassed (by my inability), but please do it for me. I’m counting on you. b) 「讓你擔心了，不好意思。」I’m sorry that I made you worry about me.
- “You shouldn’t have to”. 「你太客氣了，真是不好意思。」You’re being too courteous. You shouldn’t have to.
- to be slightly apologetic a)「 不好意思，賣光了。」 Sorry, it’s sold out. b)「啊! 不好意思、不好意思。」Oops! Excuse me (that I bumped against you, but it’s not a big deal.)
- to be perfunctorily apologetic「不好意思，你打錯了。」 Sorry, you had the wrong number.
- to be shy and/or embarrassed 「我不好意思問他。」I’m too embarrassed to ask him/I’m too shy to ask him.
dwaybuchee 對不起
Less formal than 抱歉, especially in written form, but not necessarily weaker. It has no connotations of feeling embarrassed. You know you’re wrong, so you apologize. Sometimes, you can still use 對不起 even when you’re only perfunctorily apologetic or slightly apologetic, if you feel the urge to show more respect to the other person. You can also add qualifiers to buhaoyishi to make it almost the same as dwaybuchee. For example, 真不好意思，非常不好意思 is essentially the same as 對不起。
You say 對不起 to your boss or your girlfriend. You always want to appear remorseful. You don’t say 抱歉, because your boss or girlfriend is not your customer. Now if you’re very remorseful, truly remorseful, you add qualifiers like this: 真對不起、非常對不起。
In Taiwanese, you don’t say 對不起duibuhki. You say失禮/shihle sorry; 真失禮/jinnshihle very sorry; 真正足失禮/jinnjiannjokshile truly, very sorry; 非常失禮/huishongshihle extremely sorry. Notice 失禮 is already formal. You’re sorry and you mean it and can never be too formal.
*In bother Taiwanese and Mandarin, you say 「我對不起你。」I let you down. Notice 對不起 here is a transitive verb.
bu hao yi shi to say this: Some of the above posters are in serious need of learning a proper way of transliterating Chinese into English… 
(thought people might miss bold so added italics)
Walile barng barng mawng… t’ai dwaybuchee T’aiW’an Roma bingying der byowwjwun baa
[quote=“smithsgj”](thought people might miss bold so added italics)
Walile barng barng mawng… t’ai dwaybuchee T’aiW’an Roma bingying der byowwjwun baa[/quote]
sit-lé ,hui-siông sit-lé, chin-chián chio̍k sit-lé.
Hmm.
Don’t forget the old Taiwanese favourite, Du Bu Qi… (Taiwan GuoYu of Dui Bu Qi)