> The right phrase would be The right phrase, depending on your religion, is what people use in practice (descriptivism), or what's listed in dictionary (presc

> The right phrase would be The right phrase, depending on your religion, is what people use in practice (descriptivism), or what's listed in dictionary (prescriptivism). In this case, the two happen to agree: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/entschuldigen https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/entschuldigen "jemanden wegen eines falschen Verhaltens o. Ä. um Verständnis, Nachsicht, Verzeihung bitten", example: "sich förmlich, in aller Form entschuldigen" I understand where you're coming from, but the ship has sailed. The word means what it means now, even if a literal historical reading indicates that it might have meant something else at some point.