A very polite, old-fashioned, and feminine expression used to apologize or get someone's attention. Now largely archaic and stereotypically associated with refined or affected speech.
"I beg your pardon," she said gracefully.
Excuse me, who might you be?
Kanji spelling with 免; rarely used in modern writing.
Kanji spelling with 免 and 遊; rarely used in modern writing.
Derived from ご免 (gomen, 'pardon') + 遊ばせ (asobase), an honorific imperative form of 遊ぶ (asobu, 'to play'), used as a polite auxiliary. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the phrase became a stereotypical polite feminine expression in pre-modern Japanese.