This is an idiom, and as many idioms do, it is meant to give out little snippets of advice and wisdom. To err, is an archaic way of saying to make a mistake, or to do something wrong, so the first part of this idiom is saying that is a human trait to make mistakes or to get things wrong.
The second part of the saying refers to the Divine, which is a way of describing God, or something that is godly, so it is telling us that if you are able to forgive the human mistakes of someone else then you are behaving in a godly manner because it is usually recognised that God is all forgiving.
An idiom is a saying that cannot be taken literally; instead, we are expected to translate it into what it really means. For example, if it was said that someone had ‘dug his own grave’, most English speakers would understand that this was an idiom being used to describe someone who has got himself into a lot of trouble from which he can’t get out.
Idioms can be found in many languages and are used to express an opinion or describe an event as succinctly as possible; thus avoiding long descriptions.
Very often idioms can evolve from jargon. Office-speak has become the butt of many jokes with jargon like ‘wake up and smell the coffee’; ‘joined up thinking’; and ‘blue sky thinking’ but these phrases have leaked into everyday speech that the majority of people understand and so have become idioms.
Because idioms are such an integral part of the language with the majority of us not realising how often we use them, it makes it difficult for people who are learning a second language to fully understand the complexities of that language.
The second part of the saying refers to the Divine, which is a way of describing God, or something that is godly, so it is telling us that if you are able to forgive the human mistakes of someone else then you are behaving in a godly manner because it is usually recognised that God is all forgiving.
An idiom is a saying that cannot be taken literally; instead, we are expected to translate it into what it really means. For example, if it was said that someone had ‘dug his own grave’, most English speakers would understand that this was an idiom being used to describe someone who has got himself into a lot of trouble from which he can’t get out.
Idioms can be found in many languages and are used to express an opinion or describe an event as succinctly as possible; thus avoiding long descriptions.
Very often idioms can evolve from jargon. Office-speak has become the butt of many jokes with jargon like ‘wake up and smell the coffee’; ‘joined up thinking’; and ‘blue sky thinking’ but these phrases have leaked into everyday speech that the majority of people understand and so have become idioms.
Because idioms are such an integral part of the language with the majority of us not realising how often we use them, it makes it difficult for people who are learning a second language to fully understand the complexities of that language.
