VOA词汇掌故2024--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 err¹ 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 confession² 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 guilt³. Other examples include culpable⁴, culprit, and exculpate⁵.

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

Investigators⁶ 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 exculpated⁷ 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.

confession - n. a statement admitting guilt

culpable - adj. meriting condemnation⁸ 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

1 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

2 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 culpable   

adj.有罪的，该受谴责的

参考例句：

• The judge found the man culpable.法官认为那个人有罪。
• Their decision to do nothing makes them culpable.他们不采取任何行动的决定使他们难辞其咎。

5 exculpate   

v.开脱，使无罪

参考例句：

• He exculpate himself from stealing the money.他自行辩白没有偷钱。
• He exculpate himself from a charge of theft.他辩白自己无盗窃嫌疑。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 exculpated   

v.开脱，使无罪( exculpate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has been exculpated from the charge. 他已被申明无罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was exculpated by the testimony of several witnesses. 几名目击者的证词证明他无罪。 来自辞典例句

8 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。