# Popular sayings that break or reverse the original meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2022, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322 "2022-05-12T10:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/1 "2022-05-12T10:54:00Z")
Yes it’s one of those threads where we get to feel smug for knowing a thing (until someone here corrects us 😉 ) _“The exception that proves the rule”_ Popular meaning: ? That sometimes the best example of a rule is something that at first blush appears to break it. Original meaning: An exception implies a general rule. e.g. If you put up a sign outside your house, saying “No parking 2pm - 5pm”, then implicitly you’re saying that people can park there at other times. This is an important principle in legal contexts. _“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”_ Popular meaning: We shouldn’t infer anything from the lack of evidence for a claim Original meaning: There’s a distinction, although with overlap, between “Absence of evidence” and “Evidence of absence”. A particular (lack of) observation can indeed be the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/2 "2022-05-12T11:07:26Z")
“could care less” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/3 "2022-05-12T11:10:43Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > _“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”_ > Popular meaning: We shouldn’t infer anything from the lack of evidence for a claim > Original meaning: There’s a distinction, although with overlap, between “Absence of evidence” and “Evidence of absence”. A particular (lack of) observation can indeed be the latter. Yes, claims can be made in such a way that this would be the case. i.e. if the entity I posit exists then we should definitely see evidence of “this nature” under “these circumstances”. if said evidence is _not_ seen it would be reasonable to take that as evidence that the entity does not exist. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/4 "2022-05-12T11:12:31Z")
“one bad apple” Original: corrupts all the other apples Popular: corrupts no other apples ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/5 "2022-05-12T11:13:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “could care less” The original phrase is “couldn’t care less” though, so it’s more a mis-statement of the phrase. In that format though it doesn’t make sense taken literally. Not if what you want to unambiguously convey is that the thing under discussion is something that is at the very bottom of your “caring about” list. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/6 "2022-05-12T11:13:42Z")
“Pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps” now means to pull oneself out of bad or impoverished circumstances using only one’s own devices, without any help. But it used to be a sarcastic expression, meaning to try to do the impossible. > **[The Origins of the Phrase “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps”](https://uselessetymology.com/2019/11/07/the-origins-of-the-phrase-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps/)** > > The phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” originated shortly before the turn of the 20th century. It’s attributed to a late-1800s physics schoolbook that contained the exam… “Begging the question” in its original meaning is a fallacy meaning when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. Now it typically is used to mean when a statement seems to be leading to an obvious question to be asked – “which begs the question…” [https://www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallacy-definitions/Begging-the-Question.html](https://www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallacy-definitions/Begging-the-Question.html) > **[Beg the Question](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/beg-the-question)** > > It's not begging at all ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/7 "2022-05-12T12:02:27Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Yes, claims can be made in such a way that this would be the case. > > i.e. if the entity I posit exists then we should definitely see evidence of “this nature” under “these circumstances”. > > if said evidence is _not_ seen it would be reasonable to take that as evidence that the entity does not exist. True, but I’m not sure that we need to make such an absolute claim. Let’s say the claim is that Mexico has no populations of birds living in the wild. And you travel round Mexico for a week and don’t see any. Is that evidence to support the claim? Yes, it is. Evidence, not _proof_. After all, as more people and more time elapses without seeing birds, the more confidence we’d have in the claim. So that original observation must count for _something_. But no-one needs to make the claim that a given person should definitely see a bird at a given time. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/8 "2022-05-12T12:07:48Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Let’s say the claim is that Mexico has no populations of birds living in the wild. And you travel round Mexico for a week and don’t see any. Is that evidence to support the claim? Of course, if you do see a bird, it’s the exception that proves the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/9 "2022-05-12T12:08:19Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Of course, if you do see a bird, it’s the exception that proves the rule. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/10 "2022-05-12T12:09:34Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > True, but I’m not sure that we need to make such an absolute claim. Sure I did make it absolute in order to show that the absence of such evidence _under the terms of that particular strict claim_ would indeed be strong evidence. You are right that the claim can be somewhat woolier and the principle still holds, i.e. the absence of evidence under those circumstances would be evidence of absence, just not quite as strong. All hinges on what the claim actually is. If it is constructed as non-falsifiable then there is nothing we can do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/11 "2022-05-12T12:11:07Z")
Yes, agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/12 "2022-05-12T12:35:06Z")
The original quote was _A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one_ and was a complement. We’ve shortened the phrase to turn it into an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/13 "2022-05-12T12:50:10Z")
Back in the day, saying that something (a sports car, for instance) was high-maintenance meant that you had to invest in it constantly to keep it at peak performance and you ended up with a really great car. Nowadays, saying that someone (a significant other, for instance) is high-maintenance means that you have to invest constantly to keep that person satisfied and you don’t end up with a really great significant other. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/14 "2022-05-12T12:55:33Z")
I thought of a couple popular sayings that are quoted in a shortened form that radically changes their original meaning, and not for the better, in my opinion: * * * “Money is the root of all evil.” The original is from the King James Version of the bible, 1 Timothy 6:10: “_ **For the love of** _ money is the root of all of evil” Big difference. Money on its own is not evil, the love of and coveting of it is. * * * “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” The original by Ralph Waldo Emerson is: “_ **A foolish** _ consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Sensible consistency is usually a very good thing. You don’t want surgeons, pilots or lawyers just winging it. But foolishly doing something the same wrong way every time, just because that’s the way it’s always been done, is not good. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/15 "2022-05-12T14:53:00Z")
Common quote > [@](#): > > “Anyone who would trade liberty for security deserves neither”. Which people love to throw out in Libertarian type arguments that the country was founded on Freedom above all else, which is nonsense, and an insult to Franklin. actual Quote by Ben Franklin > [@](#): > > “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” Whatever faults Franklin may have had, he was never an idiot or an absolutist. The formation of the quote shows how he understood, and knows any intelligent reader understood, that Freedom and security are often in a balance. It is a warning to be careful not to push the balance to the extreme favor of security, definitely not that we should push it to the extreme favor of Liberty, ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/16 "2022-05-12T15:05:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > “ _ **For the love of** _ money is the root of all of evil” > > Big difference. Money on its own is not evil, the love of and coveting of it is. I’m amazed at how many people get that wrong. It’s also absurd to claim that the love of money is the root of _all_ evil. Rape and serial murder almost never involve money. I might agree that the love of money is the root of _much_ evil. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/17 "2022-05-12T15:30:38Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > It’s also absurd to claim that the love of money is the root of _all_ evil. As @solost noted, the original source is 1 Timothy 6:10. The King James Version does indeed say “the root of all evil,” but many [more modern translations](https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20Timothy%206:10) say “…_a_ root of _all kinds of evil_.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/18 "2022-05-12T15:30:53Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > It’s also absurd to claim that the love of money is the root of _all_ evil. I agree! Fortunately, that’s pretty much the only absurd statement to be found in the KJ bible. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/19 "2022-05-12T15:33:57Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > “The exception that proves the rule” I think Cecil agrees that the common popular meaning breaks the original meaning: > **[What’s the meaning of the expression, “That’s the exception that proves the...](https://www.straightdope.com/21341901/what-s-the-meaning-of-the-expression-that-s-the-exception-that-proves-the-rule)** ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/20 "2022-05-12T15:35:10Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Back in the day, saying that something (a sports car, for instance) was high-maintenance meant that you had to invest in it constantly to keep it at peak performance and you ended up with a really great car. > > Nowadays, saying that someone (a significant other, for instance) is high-maintenance means that you have to invest constantly to keep that person satisfied and you don’t end up with a really great significant other. I don’t see the reversal from positive to negative connotation here that you suggest. The recent usage seems like a straightforward extension of meaning. High maintenance is no more a desirable attribute for a car than it is for a person. Either a car or a person that is high maintenance might be worth the effort involved - but the implication in both cases is probably not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322.md?page=2)