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Mary67
Guest
This is reminiscent of Greek mythology to me. It also depends on the context of the sentence. Im not sure if it as flexable as the word “karma”.
What word should Catholics use instead of "karma" for a certain kind of situation?
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Hope1960
Guest
I think worrying that it’s sinful to use the word “karma” is borderlining on scrupulosity.
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runningdude
Guest
There is nothing impropper about using “Karma” in this context. It is a metaphor.
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Bruised_Reed
Guest
Right. English doesn’t have a word that conveys the same thing. Similar, close, but not the same.
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thistle
Guest
I would say that ignorance of what karma actually means results in people misusing it to simply mean what goes around comes around.
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BoomBoomMancini
Guest
Okay, do you think language evolves over time?
My point is that if enough people “misuse” a word over time, and the new meaning is widely accepted, then eventually you no longer have a misuse but a legitimate alternative use of the word.
My point is that if enough people “misuse” a word over time, and the new meaning is widely accepted, then eventually you no longer have a misuse but a legitimate alternative use of the word.
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mVitus
Guest
Would you use any of these words/phrases?
A sysphean task.
Tantalizing
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto
Herculaean feat
Fury
Achille’s heel
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BoomBoomMancini
Guest
Very well said.
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PickyPicky
Guest
How about “comeuppance”?
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Xanthippe_Voorhees
Guest
The word has changed. That’s not “misuse”. Language is fluid.BoomBoomMancini:
I would say that ignorance of what karma actually means results in people misusing it to simply mean what goes around comes around.
Fun (fool)
fond (weak minded)
smug (well kept)
clue (yarn)
Fizzle (to fart)
myriad (exactly 10,000)
meat (any solid food)
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Augustinian
Guest
Exactly.
That’s why terms on Kavanaugh’s 1980’s calendars have different meanings now than they do today.
Living languages do that, morph and change. Some of the words which weren’t offensive at all when I was kid are today.
And that’s what makes the Latin vs. Vernacular debate what it is in regards to liturgy. Latin had stable meanings for the words- living languages can change the meaning of the prayers over time when keeping the same words. Doesn’t mean there isn’t good reason to have the vernacular, but that using the vernacular requires a lot more maintenance.
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rossum
Guest
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Xanthippe_Voorhees
Guest
Actually, English is somewhat unique this way. Not all languages are as fluid as English, but English being a predominant world language is more prone to changes both regional and with time. It’s much more likely to be influenced by other languages and utilize them rather than build a word of it’s own for a new concept.Xanthippe_Voorhees:
Exactly.
That’s why terms on Kavanaugh’s 1980’s calendars have different meanings now than they do today.
Living languages do that, morph and change. Some of the words which weren’t offensive at all when I was kid are today.
And that’s what makes the Latin vs. Vernacular debate what it is in regards to liturgy. Latin had stable meanings for the words- living languages can change the meaning of the prayers over time when keeping the same words. Doesn’t mean there isn’t good reason to have the vernacular, but that using the vernacular requires a lot more maintenance.
There are languages (in the far east) that are spoken and haven’t changed in hundreds of years due to the structure of, and influences on, that language.
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JimR-OCDS
Guest
kar·ma
ˈkärmə/
noun
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For Christians, “you reap what you sow.”
Jim
ˈkärmə/
noun
- (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.
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For Christians, “you reap what you sow.”
Jim
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