# Name a word that doesn't mean what most people think it means **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523 "2009-01-09T14:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/181 "2009-01-15T00:45:27Z")
I’ve finally given up on nauseous, which USED to mean “causing nausea.” The sick feeling in your stomach meant you were NAUSEATED. But the language has moved on without me. I’ll just keep on using the old terms in the old meanings. Everybody else can do what they want. Wherefore are all these words so vexing, forsooth??? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/182 "2009-01-15T01:37:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The American Heritage Dictionary isn’t a cite? > > Here’s another good explanation: > > [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/bring.html](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/bring.html) > > Lawler sums it up very nicely here: > Have you never said “I’ll bring it back”? 1. Your cited usages, while obviously not the most common usages, still support my initial contention that bring/take depends on the perspective, whether physical or figurative. In those examples you give, they all jibe with my understanding, and are different from matt’s. 2. A dictionary lists exceptions, too, if common usage has any such exceptions. Everyone here knows that almost all the words brought to this thread as examples have misusages common enough that they will eventually, if they haven’t already, appear in a dictionary under that usage. That’s not what this thread is about. In fact, none of these examples would be relevant to this thread unless there WERE such widespread misusage. So, no, a dictionary entry is not necessarily a valid cite, in a thread that is explicitly more interested in prescriptive grammar than descriptive. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/183 "2009-01-15T01:51:18Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > I’ve finally given up on nauseous, which USED to mean “causing nausea.” The sick feeling in your stomach meant you were NAUSEATED. But the language has moved on without me. > > I’ll just keep on using the old terms in the old meanings. Everybody else can do what they want. > > Wherefore are all these words so vexing, forsooth??? > > 😛 Did you really used to use nauseous instead of nauseating? Even among people who know the “old” definition of nauseous I always heard “That food was nauseating” as opposed to “That food was nauseous.” (maybe I should go to better parties) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/184 "2009-01-15T05:18:37Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > **Nubile** –incorrectly used as a physical description of firm-fleshed young women. Actually means “available for marriage.” Which dictionary are you using that doesn’t list some variant of “sexually attractive” as a definition of nubile? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/185 "2009-01-15T10:14:13Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Pork. > > It’s actually a verb. [Indeed.](http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/35a796d8/2207700a) **Sushi** is not raw fish. It is the pressed, cold vinegared rice that the fish is served with, or also the name for the rice and the topping together. There are many varieties of sushi that don’t use fish at all, such as cucumber, avocado. Some restaurants also serve salad, pasta or fruit sushi. You could even fry up a cheeseburger and legitimately call it sushi if you serve it on vinegared rice. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/186 "2009-01-15T20:44:03Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > [Indeed.](http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/35a796d8/2207700a) > **Sushi** is not raw fish. It is the pressed, cold vinegared rice that the fish is served with, or also the name for the rice and the topping together. > > There are many varieties of sushi that don’t use fish at all, such as cucumber, avocado. Some restaurants also serve salad, pasta or fruit sushi. You could even fry up a cheeseburger and legitimately call it sushi if you serve it on vinegared rice. However, sushi also encumbers any number of dishes that use plain or simply salted rice instead of vinegared rice. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/187 "2009-01-15T22:06:36Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Yes. I don’t hate it, but I always hear an undercurrant, as if in the background Snape were saying “how very droll, Potter.” I always understood it (and used it infrequently) to mean that while a statement was amusing or clever, I myself took no enjoyment from hearing it. Sort of like saying ‘yes, very clever’, in a bored tone of voice. Looking for an actual definition I see that while not entirely incorrect, I haven’t been using it quite right. Now what do I use? ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/188 "2009-01-15T22:24:43Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > The hackneyed internet joke that “military intelligence” is an “oxymoron” is not only affectation but unnecessary. Just use the word “contradiction,” because that expresses a subjective view that the military doesn’t act intelligently. In fact, it isn’t semantically impossible to have an intelligent military. It’s just your opinion (or lame attempt at a joke) to say that it is impossible. > > The result is that _oxymoron_ gets into the dictionary as meaning “contradiction,” but loses the finesse of its original use. > > I say, if you want to say “contradiction,” then just say it. I disagree here. It seems to me that the essence of the joke is the assertion that a military acting intelligently _is_ in fact a semantic impossibility. The correct meaning of “oxymoron” isn’t lost, but is applied to give unexpected and absurd force to what would otherwise be a simple statement of opinion regarding the capabilities of the military. The result has a humorous effect that would be lost if you only said “military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.” ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/189 "2009-01-16T02:50:39Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Presently. > > It doesn’t mean “now.” It means “soon.” As in “I will be serving dinner presently, so wash your damn hands.” Everybody thinks it means “now,” as in “Susie is presently captain of the cheerleading squad.” “Presently”, at least in UK usage, has meant “Now” for a very, very long time (since at least the 15th Century, IIRC). The “In Due Course”, “In the immediate future”, or “Shortly” definition is a more recent one, but still correct. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/190 "2009-01-16T04:39:56Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 1. A dictionary lists exceptions, too, if common usage has any such exceptions. Everyone here knows that almost all the words brought to this thread as examples have misusages common enough that they will eventually, if they haven’t already, appear in a dictionary under that usage. That’s not what this thread is about. In fact, none of these examples would be relevant to this thread unless there WERE such widespread misusage. So, no, a dictionary entry is not necessarily a valid cite, in a thread that is explicitly more interested in prescriptive grammar than descriptive. So to be clear, authoritative texts on the English language are not valid cites, but you are. Gosh, why did I invest in a dictionary? But, since \*\*matt\_mcl \*\*seems to have a much better understanding of the issue, I’m still going with his explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/191 "2009-01-18T08:05:06Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Which dictionary are you using that doesn’t list some variant of “sexually attractive” as a definition of nubile? Okay. Would you consider “sexually attractive” to be a physical description? I mean, if you were talking to a police sketch artist, would the phrase convey any information he’d find useful? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/192 "2009-01-18T09:17:58Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > **Rabbit Punch** –incorrectly used to mean “short, quick jab” as in “a rabbit punch to the chest.” Actually means a strike to the back or side of the neck or head. > > **Nubile** –incorrectly used as a physical description of firm-fleshed young women. Actually means “available for marriage.” So, you’re saying that most men _wouldn’t_ want to marry a “firm-fleshed young woman”? :dubious: “Carry” is a word which gets abused by Southerners. I frequently hear someone say they had to “carry so and so to work.” Meaning that they had to give them a ride, and _not_ carry the person on their back. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/193 "2009-01-18T16:54:27Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > However, sushi also **encumbers** any number of dishes that use plain or simply salted rice instead of vinegared rice. I think you mean “encompasses” as opposed to [_encumbers_](http://www.answers.com/encumbers). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/194 "2009-01-18T17:26:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Name a word that doesn’t mean what most people think it means prodigal Most people think it means _wayward_ or _gone astray_. It actually means _spendthrift_ or _profligate_. The confusion comes from the Biblical proverb of the prodigal son, who had gone astray _and_ spent a lot of money. The “prodigal” in the title of the proverb describes the _spent a lot of money_ part, not the _gone astray_ part. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/195 "2009-01-18T20:41:25Z")
I don’t understand some of you. You say that word X is being used incorrectly and then admit that Webster’s dictionary says that such alternate use has been acceptable since the Normans invaded England, but for some reason you still don’t feel that it should be used. Why? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/196 "2009-01-18T21:07:49Z")
> [@groo](#): > > It displeases me that penultimate and decimate are so often misunderstood. They are exacting definitions which could frequently describe specific, interesting situations […] “Penultimate” I’ll give you, but “decimate?” I’m as pedantic and prescriptivist as they come, but even I have to admit that “reduced by a tenth” is so vanishingly rare a use as to not need a word, whereas “almost completely destroyed” is so common that a shortening would be useful: especially one that even _sounds_ like “destroyed.” I have not yet been appointed final arbiter of language (I think Obama’s working on the announcement now), but I can’t imagine that the “reduced by a tenth” folks are going to win this in the long run (or even the short one). Better, I think, to use our energies to pull “penultimate” and “literally” back from the edge while there’s still time. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/197 "2009-01-20T17:28:41Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Okay. > > Would you consider “sexually attractive” to be a physical description? I mean, if you were talking to a police sketch artist, would the phrase convey any information he’d find useful? Yes, “sexually attractive” is a physical description. No, it’s not particularly useful to a sketch artist, since it’s thoroughly subjective. Wouldn’t you agree that pretty, ugly, cute, easy-on-the-eyes, hunky, and babealicious are all physical descriptions? I’m not sure what any of that has to do with the definition of “nubile,” though. I just said that “available for marriage” is only one definition of the word, and every dictionary I’ve looked in lists some variant of “sexually attractive” as one of the definitions. This, of course, creates yet another situation where a word can be legitimately used in highly confusing ways: a cute married woman is “nubile” in one sense, where a young available unattractive woman is “nubile” in the other. Most people I’ve heard use the word meant it to encompass both meanings with an undertone of “young.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523/198 "2009-01-20T19:21:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Niggardly. It means “miserly,” but I would not use it. I’ll use it on your behalf, just to be nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-word-that-doesnt-mean-what-most-people-think-it-means/480523.md?page=9)