In all my dictionaries, except Longman, "mea culpa" is defined as "a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error," but on LDOCE, the definition is "used humorously to admit that something is your fault."
Well, if mea culpa is a formal acknowledgement, then how can it be used humorously?! Which definition do you find closer to the common use of the word in daily life?

Thanks!

Never heard of the 2nd. However, I can imagine that with an appropriate/joking tone, you can do that.

Perhaps I can clear this up. Mea culpa is Latin, Mehrdad, and is a phrase used in the Roman Catholic Church for people to say when they admit that they have sinned. In fact, if the sin is really serious, they usually say "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

Now, if somebody is an observant Catholic, this phrase will be considered a formal admission of sin or a personal fault or error, and taken quite seriously. But for people who are not observant Roman Catholics, this can be a way of mildly mimicking this admission for things outside the realm of religion and the idea of sin. If it's used this way, I can see how some can interpret it as somewhat humorous since it's applying a very somber, formal admission of sin to something secular and perhaps not so awful an error.

Here's an example of how it might be used in that context:

A: George, I'm looking everywhere inside the refrigerator, but I can't find the watercress for the salad I'm planning to make tonight.
B: Oops. Mea culpa. I forgot to buy some when I was in the supermarket this morning. Sorry.

In addition to Longman, there is Macmillan which says, too, it is used humorously. Have a look.

http://www.macmillandictionary...ry/british/mea-culpa

Thank you all.
I got you completely, Richard, maybe because I could think of a similar thing in Farsi. BTW, you really clarified that superbly.

quote:

Perhaps I can clear this up. Mea culpa is Latin, Mehrdad, and is a phrase used in the Roman Catholic Church for people to say when they admit that they have sinned. In fact, if the sin is really serious, they usually say "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

It WAS used in the Catholic Church. Latin went out of church services when I was in early primary school, but I can still remember this phrase. But outside of the church service itself, I've only ever heard it used humorously as in the example Richard gave. I never heard of anyone being offended by the phrase.

Thank you, Okaasan.