For When You Do Something Wrong: Mea Culpa

For When You Do Something Wrong: Mea Culpa

And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

We all make mistakes. So, we have the expression to err is human.

People who accept responsibility or blame will often say “I’m sorry,” or “I was wrong.” Others might say, "It’s my fault” or “I apologize." Often friends use expressions like “That was on me” or “My bad.”

But there is another way to say that you accept responsibility or admit that you made a mistake. Some English speakers may say mea culpa.

If that does not sound like English, that’s because it isn’t.

American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says that mea culpa means "through my fault" in Latin. The phrase comes from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church. By itself, the expression is used to mean "It was my fault" or "I apologize."

Mea culpa is also a noun.

People caught doing something wrong often give, or issue, a mea culpa. For example, when an official is caught doing something wrong, she might issue a statement that includes a mea culpa.

Let’s hear an example:

The mayor's mea culpa did not change the minds of voters, and she lost the election.

Mea culpa is one of many English terms that come from the Latin word culpa which means guilt. Other examples include culpable, culprit, and exculpate.

When someone deserves blame for something, especially something harmful, we say he is culpable for the outcomes. For example:

Investigators said that the carmaker was culpable for thousands of accidents because of faulty brakes.

A culprit is a person guilty of a crime or a fault. That is why police officers often call a person guilty of crime a culprit.

And the word exculpate means to clear someone from suspected fault or guilt. Here’s an example:

The husband was exculpated of his wife’s death when she was found alive living in Paris under a fake name.

And that’s all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

Until next time ... I’m Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Stories

confession – n. a statement admitting guilt

culpable – adj. meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful

culprit – n. one accused of or charged with a crime

exculpate – v. to clear from alleged fault or guilt

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