Something I’ve noticed with a lot of Protestants is that many of them tend to have the same narrow vocabulary which seems to reflect certain common translations of the Bible. You hear a lot of “conviction,” “calling,” “blessing,” “salt of the earth,” things of that nature. For many of them, choosing this narrow vocabulary is part of living “Biblically.”
Catholics also have a vocabulary amongst themselves, and for them, this is part of being Catholic and living like a Catholic.
For example, “intentions.” I had never heard this word when we first started attending the Catholic Church. I still find it strange. We used the word “requests” when talking about prayer.
Also “vocations.” In the Protestant church, these would be “callings.” We used to say that a young man was “called” to be a pastor. I didn’t know what Catholics were talking about when I first heard this term “vocations.”
Also “religious” used as a noun (various orders, nuns, monks, etc.). Thankfully this was explained to us at the Catholic Apologetics class that we were attending back when we first starting studying Catholicism. We try to be careful to explain the word when we are talking to Protestants, because they have no concept of what this word means to Catholics. “Religious” is a word that has a very negative connotation to many evangelical Protestants; you will often hear them say, “I’m not religious. I’m a Christian.”
A lot of Catholics consistently refer to Mary as “Our Lady” and Jesus as “Our Lord.” That’s easy enough to understand. But Protestants would never say “Our Lady,” they would just say “Mary, the mother of Jesus.” And they usually say “The Lord” not “Our Lord.”
I had never heard the phrase “Gift of Tears” before getting involved with Catholics. I like the phrase very much. But we would have called it “emotionalism.” (Conference Baptists do not encourage displays of emotion during church.)
One of my friends who attends the Latin Mass always signs her emails with a certain Latin phrase.
I see nothing wrong with a group of people having certain words that they use amongst themselves, unless those words are punitive or insulting to others. (For example, certain ethnic words that are used are very insulting, but various groups keep using those words anyway.)
In the South, everyone says, “Bless your heart!” I never hear the phrase here in the North, unless I say it to someone!
effect comes from not realizing that we are talking about the same thing. I’m still learning my new vocabulary. I’m thankful that God is using me and my old vocabulary to dispel some of the myths that people have believed their whole lives.
