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09-08-2011, 10:33 AM
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Location: The Hall of Justice
25,906 posts, read 40,987,001 times
Reputation: 42718
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Can you think of a word that seems like it should mean something other than what it does mean? We learn the meaning of most words from their context, so maybe you misunderstood a word and it stuck with you.
swimmingly
Maybe it's because I imagine someone treading water, just getting by, but when someone says, "We got along swimmingly," I think it must have been a chore with mediocre results. I know it means "effortlessly, smoothly," but my brain objects.
Also, my son is reading one of the Amelia Bedelia books, which are about how a good-natured housekeeper misunderstands common phrases like, "Draw the curtains" and "Dress the chicken for the oven." One of Amelia Bedelia's mishaps resulted from the instruction to "dust the furniture." She remarked, "How funny! In my house we un-dust the furniture," and then she sprinkled powder all over the place. I like that one. Dusting for fingerprints or dusting a breadboard with flour involve adding dust. Maybe I can skip dusting the furniture now, because it manages to get dusty without any help from me.  |
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09-08-2011, 03:58 PM
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Location: Richardson, TX
8,720 posts, read 13,277,410 times
Reputation: 3799
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Inconceivable!
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09-09-2011, 07:34 AM
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Location: So Ca
24,928 posts, read 23,110,501 times
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dense
To me it seems as if it should be the opposite of what it means; I don't know why. It didn't help to associate it as a child with a reference to someone's inferior thinking ability. (If someone is "thick," wouldn't that mean h/she had a lot of brain? Or so I assumed.)
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10-04-2011, 08:36 AM
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Location: So Ca
24,928 posts, read 23,110,501 times
Reputation: 22209
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The word "tortuous."
Wouldn't you think it would mean something having to do with torture? Instead it means marked by repeated twists, bends or turns (e.g. a tortuous path) or marked by devious or indirect tactics (e.g. a tortuous conspiracy).
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10-04-2011, 09:04 AM
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Location: Richardson, TX
8,720 posts, read 13,277,410 times
Reputation: 3799
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now
The word "tortuous."
Wouldn't you think it would mean something having to do with torture? Instead it means marked by repeated twists, bends or turns (e.g. a tortuous path) or marked by devious or indirect tactics (e.g. a tortuous conspiracy).
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From my American Heritage dictionary:
Quote:
Although tortuous and torturous both come from the Latin word torquêre, "to twist," their primary meanings are distinct. Tortuous means "twisting" (a tortuous road) or by extension "complex" or "devious." Torturous refers primarily to torture and the pain associated with it. However, torturous also can be used in the sense of "twisted" or "strained," and tortured is an even stronger synonym: tortured reasoning.
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10-04-2011, 02:25 PM
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Location: Nesconset, NY
2,202 posts, read 4,098,638 times
Reputation: 2155
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now
The word "tortuous."
Wouldn't you think it would mean something having to do with torture? Instead it means marked by repeated twists, bends or turns (e.g. a tortuous path) or marked by devious or indirect tactics (e.g. a tortuous conspiracy).
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Maybe repeated twists (as by a rope wound around one's body) was a form of torture. |
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10-04-2011, 02:27 PM
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Location: 39 20' 59"N / 75 30' 53"W
16,078 posts, read 27,318,841 times
Reputation: 18161
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Ironic
I hear this misused constantly.
The impact of ironic has been diluted because many people use it to mean “coincidental,” when its traditional definition is “counter to expectations or what is appropriate.”
Last edited by virgode; 10-04-2011 at 02:40 PM..
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10-04-2011, 03:10 PM
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Location: Nesconset, NY
2,202 posts, read 4,098,638 times
Reputation: 2155
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I have a problem, with some words, while choosing the prefix 'in-' vs 'un-' and some times with 'dis-'.
In the play/movie '1776' Jefferson and Adams debate whether it's 'inalienable' or 'unalienable'. I have similar debates from time to time.
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10-05-2011, 12:08 PM
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Location: 39 20' 59"N / 75 30' 53"W
16,078 posts, read 27,318,841 times
Reputation: 18161
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Heres a word I'm misusing and it doesn't mean what I thought it meant
Incredible
What we think it means: Amazing; extraordinary
How we use it: “These brownies taste incredible!” .
What it means : Not credible; unbelievable
How it should be used: “The witness’s testimony is incredible because he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.”
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10-05-2011, 12:15 PM
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Location: Richardson, TX
8,720 posts, read 13,277,410 times
Reputation: 3799
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Quote:
Originally Posted by virgode
Heres a word I'm misusing and it doesn't mean what I thought it meant
Incredible
What we think it means: Amazing; extraordinary
How we use it: “These brownies taste incredible!” .
What it means : Not credible; unbelievable
How it should be used: “The witness’s testimony is incredible because he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.”
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Is my dictionary wrong? |
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