As an editor and a former professor of linguistics, I enjoy looking at the peculiarities and inconsistencies of the English language. For example, we park in a driveway and we drive on a parkway! Did you know that when people say, "I could care less," they are actually saying that they do care? The correct expression would be, "I could not care less." If you could care less, you do possess some degree of caring.
Then there are oxymorons, such as "jumbo shrimp" and "Christian humanism," a phrase I see from time to time. One cannot be both a Christian and a humanist, for they are contradictory terms. Here's another one: "Death benefits." (For the Christian, though, it may not be an oxymoron, for, as Paul said, "For me to die is gain.")
The redundancies we see in language from time to time are interesting, as well. Here's a case in point, which we sometimes see in advertising: "Free gift." If it is a gift it has to be free. Hence, there is no need for a modifier in that case. A similar case would be: "A true fact." If it is a fact, it has to be true.
The etymology of words and phrases is of great interest to me. When one says, "It's raining cats and dogs" they are employing a figure of speech that is not to be taken literally. However, there may have been a time when it had a justifiably literal interpretation, and that was when cats and dogs would find shelter in thatched roofs. In those days, when it rained hard, it is easy to imagine that one would see cats and dogs falling off (out of) the roofs.
Certain everyday expressions come from the Bible. Here are some of them:
"A fly in the ointment." (See Ecclesiastes 10:1.)
"A drop in the bucket." (See Isaiah 40:15.)
"An eye for an eye." (See Matthew 5:38.)
"Bite the dust." (See Psalm 72.)
"The apple of my eye." (See Proverbs 7:2.)
"A little bird told me." (See Ecclesiastes 10:20.)
Some expressions, on the other hand, are said to be from the Bible when they are not. Some of these include:
"Money is the root of all evil." (The correct expression, of course, is "The love of money is the root of all evil.")
"God helps those who help themselves." Actually, God's grace helps us even when we are not helping ourselves.
As you know, there are many admonitions in the Scriptures with regard to the use of our tongues. We need to always use the gift of language wisely by being sure to say what we mean and to mean what we say. Otherwise, we might be like those Jesus was referring to: "They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:14).
