Convicted, but no felon
This has bothered me for a few years now, so want to spit it out.
Why do Americans (or is it only them) use the word “Convicted” to mean that they “Have Conviction”? They don’t use it instead of saying “Convinced”, they see it as the next step after that — a more powerful version of being convinced.
For a while, I thought it was only the colleagues at my workplace who said it. But it seems broader, like this video shows (you can hear the first line alone):
The first time I heard a colleague say, “I am convicted about this decision”, I was shocked. For a second, I thought it was a joke. But later realized that he meant it seriously. He meant that he ‘had conviction’ in that decision.
And as a non-native speaker, I assumed may be “Convicted” has a different meaning apart from what I regularly read as “He was convicted for the crime” (as a verb), or “He is a convicted felon” (as an adjective). However, none of the dictionaries I referred to showed me a different meaning. The word “convict” has three meanings (adjective, noun, and verb), but none of them the way it is used.
I even Googled enough to see if there is any American or British English nuance to this, but couldn’t find any. That’s why I added the “or is it only them” at the start of this post.
Why, dear world, why haven’t you addressed this so far? Now that I have let it outside my system, hopefully I will find the answer.
Thanks for your time.
