Nope, I don't accept your apology

"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry." Pretty much every human living has said this at least once, on purpose or not

Nope. No can do. And for whatever it's worth, it (the "apology") isn't worth anything. Someone said this to me recently and I got all riled. Why do we say today's quote? I'm wondering why because when I hear that kind of apology I think a couple of things:
1) You are NOT sorry, you are just trying to appease or diffuse a situation. In fact, do you even know what you are sorry for?
2) What do you think your fake "I'm sorry" is worth? Would it be worth something to you if you heard it from me?
The person who said it to me also was assuming I was upset and so they were trying to apologize for something they imagined they had done...or said...but weren't sure. Kind of like covering their bases. That gets me riled also. Don't apologize for imaginary things or to cover your bases. Don't apologize because you are assuming. (Btw, I wasn't upset or mad at all when I heard the explanation/answer to the question I asked but this person went ahead and assumed, talk about getting me upset then!)
Here's the kind of apology that IS worth it:
1) It's specific. You know exactly what went wrong and you are apologizing specifically for it. (i.e. "John, I am sorry that I didn't do the dishes when you had asked me to." See? Specifics tell you and other person that you know what the problem is and you are trying to mend it not just cover your bases.
2) It is sincere and not grumpy. Don't apologize if you got caught but aren't truly sorry. People are pretty smart and they know when an apology is insincere. (i.e. "Sheesh John you're so worked up. So I guess I'm sorry that the dishes didn't get done. Gosh take a chill pill." See? Would you like to hear that kind of "apology"? I didn't think so.
"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry." Well it's not worth anything in my estimation and I don't accept your apology. So whatcha gonna do with that? :)

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.

A dime a dozen

"It's said that in the year 1796, the first U.S. dimes were produced for circulation. Hence, it would make sense for this phrase to originate sometime after." Read more here . Today the phrase carries the meaning that something is cheap or without value if it can be lumped in with other similar or exactly-like things. It's more of an insult than anything.

Life according to van Gogh...sort of

There are two ways of thinking about painting, how not to do it and how to do it; how to do it -- with much drawing and little color; how not to do it -- with much color and little drawing. Vincent van Gogh in a l etter to Theo van Gogh, April 1882 Life is a little bit like today's quote from van Gogh. Some of us live life focusing on the drawing - the details - and have very little color. Others of us go for the color and forsake, to a degree, the drawing - the details. Unlike painting, according to van Gogh, one is not wrong over the other but somewhere in between the two would be the best I would think. If you look at some of van Gogh's paintings I feel like you can see where he might have struggled between the "how to do it" and the " how not to do it" (as he admittedly loved color so much but knew he had to focus more on the drawing) and that seems to be reflected in his life as well. In the end he wasn't able to find the ...

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