Well, we will be able to "avoid regrettable misunderstandings", as the European Patent Office would put it, once we have found a definitive solution to the problems attending European patent law, and have cleared such misunderstandings up, because, at the end of the day, prevention is still better than cure.
"I call on people to cooperate and respect drivers and government officials... to avoid any regrettable incidents," transportation secretary Miguel Torres said.
It is hoped that your dismissal of this ticket will mark both an end and a new beginning for both parties, marked by a mutual resolve to avoid such regrettable situations in future.
This situation will be worse if sequestration's cuts are allowed to go forward, and Mr. Ryan's willful acceptance of the cuts -- in lieu of bipartisan efforts to avoid them -- is regrettable.
Do your best to avoid things escalating into cruel words and regrettable actions and give each other space when needed.
Express that your actions were regrettable and that you will take care to avoid the same mistake in the future.
"We are forming a committee to investigate these regrettable incidents in order to ascertain their cause so as to avoid them in the future" is weaselly corporate-speak, but it is grammatically active.
One signed commentary in the online edition of the People's Daily stated: "What is regrettable is that, with regard to the facts, Bo Xilai made a supreme effort to quibble, to avoid the major charges while admitting the minor ones, and almost completely denied the facts of his crimes".
In the People's Daily, the Party mouthpiece, an op-ed commentator lamented: "What is regrettable is that, with regard to the facts, Bo Xilai made a supreme effort to quibble, to avoid the major charges while admitting the minor ones, and almost completely denied the facts of his crimes".
This is regrettable because active collaboration with the user community is an essential prerequisite to avoiding errors as well as discrepancies between resources.
As Dean Starkman nicely phrased it in the latest issue of The Columbia Journalism Review, the credit card industry "has shifted from a lending and underwriting paradigm to a sales paradigm; penalties, fees and default interest at rates that were illegal a generation ago are no longer regrettable outcomes to be avoided but central to the business model".
