a throwback - misunderstood biblical references

(I've found another gap filler with old blog entries from myspace. If you're on my myspace and waste time reading my crap, you should skip this one and any other entries with the word "throwback" in the title. When possible, I'll be reposting the entries with major edits. I'm also doing this as another place to keep my drafts in case I end up losing my myspace.)

There are a number of words and phrases out there that are commonly misunderstood to the point of their improper definitions being accepted, as their original meanings are abandoned or forgotten. For example, "saving grace" is often used to describe something that helps a person get through the day or the one positive value of an object or event. While the actual definition isn't too far off, a saving grace refers to the speaker's good attributes, not the situation the speaker is referring to. A saving grace is a redeeming quality. Your saving grace is the one good thing about you when other parts fall short. When beginning a sentence with, "My saving grace...", you wouldn't really be referring to yourself if that grace is a cup of coffee and a down moment in an otherwise hectic schedule. That would be the day's saving grace, not yours.

Situations like this do not indicate, to me, a lack of education or a kind of ignorance. As language evolves, definitions change. The dictionary often notes a word's accepted definition along with it's origins and a description of how others commonly define it. I feel that as long we know what the other person is talking about, in most informal settings, being proper is unnecessary and rather annoying, at times. Harping on people for improper grammar that is very widely accepted is especially eye-roll worthy.

Still, I like to think about those original meanings and pass the information along when I can.

Two other phrases that I instantly think about are especially widespread. Both are from the bible.

The Immaculate Conception

In casual speak, people often use the phrase "Immaculate Conception" to refer to a situation in which a woman managed to get pregnant without the act of sex. This is not what Immaculate Conception is.

While the story of the Immaculate Conception does refer to the Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ, it does not have anything to do with her status as a virgin. What it deals with specifically is the concept of Original Sin. Catholics believe that all human beings after Adam and Eve were born with Original Sin. Original Sin is part of a soul the moment of conception, after an act of intercourse, months before a baby is born. The act of baptising a baby in Catholicism and other Christian sects as opposed to using baptism as an act for a conscious, decided believer in Christ, is done to wash away that Original Sin. We are not simply born with Original Sin, we are conceived with it. And nearly every person in this world was conceived with that sin. The only person that isn't, according to this Christian tradition, is Mary. Because Mary was chosen from conception to birth the Christ Child, she was conceived without that sin to be a pure vessel. Jesus is not the Immaculate Conception. Mary is.

The Prodigal Son

Most know the parable whether they are of faith or not. This tale is of a man with two sons. One is obedient. The other is a wanderlust. The disobedient son asks his father for his share of his inheritance so he can leave while the good son stays home and takes care of business. The son who wandered spent his money unwisely, giving into instant pleasures rather than securing himself a future, both in the material world and presumably, in heaven. When this son returns home, penniless and worse for the wear, the father welcomes his son home with open arms while the obedient son, who had not wavered, complained.

This son who left and came back would be the prodigal son. But the fact that he returned is not what made him prodigal. He was called prodigal because of his actions concerning his inheritance. Prodigal means wasteful, especially with unaffordable extravagances. The prodigal son was wreckless with his money.

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Again, we usually know what people are talking about when they use such phrases and it makes little sense to get upset about how these and other phrases have changed. But knowledge, in this sense, really couldn't hurt, whether we decide to use or not. And if you do usually prefer only using words properly, perhaps this helped you in doing so.