Saying sorry first doesn’t mean you lost. It means you were the grown-up in the room.

Apologizing first gets read as surrender, since arguments are scored like games and whoever bends looks weaker. What really happened is that one person chose the relationship over the point. That takes more steadiness than holding out does, and it ends the standoff faster than being right ever manages to.

Think of someone you have gone quiet with over something small. Say the part that is genuinely yours, with no clause tacked on that blames them back. You are not conceding the whole argument, only ending the freeze so the real conversation can start.