the world

[David Bowie]

From:    "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>

: Discussion of "the world" have centered on it being "not in the army"
: or "not stationed away from home".

: From Wall Street Journal, 4/29/91, article Darby, an advice
: columnist in the Texas Prison system newspapers.
: "The current Darby wrote for newspapers "in the world," as inmates
: describe what's beyond the red-brick prison walls, so submitting stories
: to the Echo came naturally.

Among adherents of several (generally conservative, in my observation)
religions, the phrase "the world" is often used to mean something like
"those who aren't part of our particular belief system", with a connotation
of "those sinners over there".

Presumably that comes from the use of the phrasing in the KJV, such as "He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not"
in Jn 1:10 and "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you" in Jn 15:19.

Since there's a possible KJV source for this use, might "the world" meaning
"in a different situation" have spread from religious use into military and
prison uses? I don't know if it'd be possible to document either way,
though.

David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
    Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
    house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
    chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.