Name a word that doesn't mean what most people think it means

This is as mucn origin as meaning, but painstaking is not pain-staking; it’s pains-taking.
You don’t “stake pain” (whatever that might mean) when doing something painstaking. You “take pains.”

hopefully – in common usage, this word is used to mean ‘if things go as I am hoping they will’ whereas its original meaning is ‘in a hopeful manner’. Of course I won’t get all up in arms about it because Merriam-Webster lists the common use as a definition and also says that people have been doing it since the 1930s.

grotesque.

It means excessively decorative.

  1. Oxymoron.
  2. Hysterical.
  3. I’m still new here.

I’m surrounded by people who use “ignorant” as a synonym for “rude.” I’m amazed my head hasn’t exploded, because every time I hear it, I want to smack someone on the head with a dictionary.

That’s ironic.

:smiley:

My mother has a friend who not only does this, but pronounces it “ignant.” I must have some kind of inherently superhuman self-restraint to not kill her.

ME: I found that joke Mildred told about the octopus and the bagpipes very bemusing.

BUDDY: You thought it was funny? I didn’t get it.

ME: Exactly.

People actually isn’t really a plural although it’s often used as such. It’s a collective noun like group or tribe or herd - a single entity composed of a number of individual objects.

Not exactly. According to Merriam-Webster, as a noun “grotesque” means:

This seems to indicate a fairly specific type of style - one I’m not acquainted with, so I find this interesting to learn. However, as an adjective, which is how it is normally applied, they list the definition as:

Which is a little less specific, and does not necessarily have to mean “excessively decorative” as I would interpret it.

Sojourn. Many people seem to think it means “to take a trip,” probably from its resemblance to “journey.” In fact, it is a noun (not a verb) that means almost the opposite: a brief stay in a location.

Bring. It means to cause a thing to be carried to where the speaker is. Take means to carry a thing to somewhere else.

Okay, but it still arguably doesn’t mean “ugly”, which is what people tend to use it for. It’s meant as elaborately complex, rather than just unattractive.

Comprise
Epitome
Apropos
i.e.
Stanch

epitome was the first one that occurred to me. I don’t think I have asked anyone the meaning and got any other than some variant of, “a shining example”, “the absolute best of” etc. It means standard or typical.

boner

I’ll second infer/imply, and enormity when people really mean enormousness.

…but frankly, this thread has been personally enlightening, to the point of humiliation. :frowning:

I hadn’t known that there was controversy about killing things vs wiping things out. But I think most people use it now as the “large scale” killing definition. I’m pretty sure the 1 in 10 thing is really dated.

The use of “parameter” to mean “limit” grates on me, although I’ll admit that it may have become standard English through usage. I suspect the change happened because “parameter” and “perimeter” are so similar in sound.

Then, why do you say “people are” and “the group/tribe/herd is”?