Today's English Expression 25/30 · Level: Meetings & Chat. All example sentences were invented for this post. They are not taken from actual repository comments, and the scenarios are examples.
Table of Contents
- At a Glance
- 1. Meaning and Nuance
- 2. Example Sentences
- 3. Similar Expressions and Differences
- 4. Common Mistakes Made by Koreans
- 5. One-Line Practice
- Model Answer
- References
At a Glance
| Expression | Sorry for the noise. |
| Meaning | Sorry for sending unnecessary notifications. |
| Where to Use | Issue/PR comments, mailing lists, Slack channels |
| Politeness | Casual and polite. Keeping it short is customary. |
1. Meaning and Nuance
While "noise" means "sound," in development environments, it is frequently used to mean "useless information that obscures the signal." Too many logs are called noisy logs, and meaningless alarms are called noisy alerts. The "noise" in "Sorry for the noise" has the same meaning and refers to the unnecessary notifications or messages you sent. This phrase itself is not a dictionary headword, but an idiomatic usage in the developer community, commonly found in issue trackers and mailing lists.
Why is this kind of apology necessary? On GitHub, when a comment is added to an issue or PR, notifications go out to everyone subscribed to that conversation. According to GitHub documentation, opening an issue or PR, commenting, being mentioned, or being assigned automatically subscribes you to that conversation, and anyone watching the entire repository also receives notifications. In popular repositories, this number can reach the hundreds. Therefore, if you accidentally comment multiple times or test bot commands repeatedly, you end up filling many people's inboxes.
This expression is used briefly . This is because the apology comment itself creates yet another notification. Whenever possible, rather than posting a new comment, append it to an existing one, and delete or edit the mistaken comment. Adding a brief "Sorry for the noise" at the end of a comment correcting a mistake is the most common pattern.
2. Example Sentences
Scenario 1: When you commented on the wrong issue
Oops, this was meant for #4012. Sorry for the noise.
"was meant for" means "was intended to be posted on."
Scenario 2: When you entered commands multiple times to re-run CI
Sorry for the noise, I didn't realize the retest command needs the job name. It's running now.
Scenario 3: When correcting a wrongly sent email on a mailing list
Please ignore my previous message, it was sent to the wrong list. Sorry for the noise.
3. Similar Expressions and Differences
- Sorry for the spam. The meaning is similar, but "spam" is a stronger term. It is used when you have sent an excessive number of notifications.
- Apologies for the churn. "Churn" refers to "frequent (unnecessary) changes." It is used when force pushing or modifying multiple times has inconvenienced reviewers.
- Please disregard. A polite expression meaning "Please ignore." It is used together with "Sorry for the noise" when referring to wrongly sent content.
4. Common Mistakes Made by Koreans
- I'm really sorry for making you confused with my stupid mistake. The apology is long and contains self-deprecation, which creates yet another piece of noise.
- Corrected sentence: Sorry for the noise, wrong thread.
- Sorry for the noisy. "Noisy" is an adjective and cannot be used in a noun position.
- Corrected sentence: Sorry for the noise.
- Leaving the mistaken comment as is and posting a brand new apology comment. If you can delete or edit it, do so first.
5. One-Line Practice
Rewrite the following Korean sentence as an issue comment.
Oops, that comment was meant to go on a different PR. Sorry for causing notifications.
Model Answer
Oops, this comment was meant for a different PR. Sorry for the noise.
Instead of literally translating "Sorry for causing notifications," use "Sorry for the noise." English speakers find this a much more familiar apology.
Titi's Tip. An apology is also a notification. Keep it short and do it once.
References
- GitHub Docs, About notifications: https://docs.github.com/en/subscriptions-and-notifications/concepts/about-notifications
- Merriam-Webster, "noise": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noise