# 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:** 2
**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, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/21 "2022-05-12T19:05:57Z")
> [@solost](#): > > 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 Along those lines, the original quote was _The customer is always right in matters of taste_. So if a customer want’s a drink made of prune juice and ouzo, it’s not your job to say it’s an awful combination. But it has nothing to do with allowing customers to walk all over you. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/22 "2022-05-12T19:37:01Z")
Isn’t the original saying “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” meaning the literal opposite of how its used? ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/23 "2022-05-12T19:56:22Z")
> [@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. E.g. “the dog that didn’t bark in the night”. But I don’t think that’s an example of a saying that breaks or reverses the original meaning. That’s just an example of people who are stronger on slogans than on logic substituting the former for the latter. A comparable example is people using “correlation doesn’t equal causation” as some sort of all-purpose rebuttal. Sometimes correlation results from causation and sometimes it doesn’t and it depends on the specifics, which need to be looked at more closely for possible non-causation bases for the correlation. But people use it to entirely dismiss correlation as evidence of causation, which is not logically sound. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/24 "2022-05-12T22:36:52Z")
“No love was lost between them” was first used (to my knowledge) in the original **Babes in the Woods** story. Original meaning - they loved each other so much, there was none missing (lost) Present meaning - they hate each other ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/25 "2022-05-12T23:38:14Z")
I always read this as "I could care less about this but it’s not worth the effort " But it’s probably just a mis-statement. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/26 "2022-05-13T00:37:49Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Along those lines, the original quote was _The customer is always right in matters of taste_ . The [Quote Investigator,](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/10/06/customer/#note-12180-9) who is my go-to site on these issues, doesn’t mention this variant at all. > The earliest close match located by **QI** and fellow researcher [Barry Popik](http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/the_customer_is_always_right/) appeared in an article about the retailer Marshall Field of Chicago that was published in “The Boston Sunday Herald” and “The Boston Globe” in September 1905. > > > Broadly speaking, Mr. Field adheres to the theory that **“the customer is always right.”** Other people have looked for someone who added “in matters of taste” and found nothing like it in the early usages, although there were many variants in the years before WWI. ---
**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 13, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/27 "2022-05-13T00:48:53Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I always read this as "I could care less about this but it’s not worth the effort " My own guess is a switching of usage from plural to singular. If you were talking about a group of people, you could say that none of them could care less about XYZ. ---
**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 13, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/28 "2022-05-13T05:12:19Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > My own guess is a switching of usage from plural to singular. If you were talking about a group of people, you could say that none of them could care less about XYZ. I don’t understand what you are saying here. If the phrase is “I” could care less, then how does thinking it applies to a group of some other people help get across the point that XYZ is actually something that _you_ could not care less about? ---
**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 13, 2022, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/29 "2022-05-13T05:29:15Z")
Another one is reference to religion as “the opium of the people”. It is typically used today as wholly demeaning and mocking of religion but the wider context of Marx’s comment is not so dismissive. > **Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the _opium_ of the people** in that way it is understood as something that comes out of terrible conditions and is an understandable and soothing response that helps people. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/30 "2022-05-13T06:34:25Z")
I’ve always assumed that the original wording was “As if I could care less”, and people just started dropping the “as if” part. ---
**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 13, 2022, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/31 "2022-05-13T12:15:49Z")
My own guess is a switching of usage from plural to singular. If you were talking about a group of people, you could say that none of them could care less about XYZ. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I don’t understand what you are saying here. I’m saying ‘none of them could care less’ is correct usage, and people have switched it to ‘they could care less’. Thinking about it, it’s not a switch from plural to singular, it’s a switch from negative (none of a group) to positive (all of a group). ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/32 "2022-05-13T13:50:12Z")
From what I’ve heard, that ‘original’ blood-of-the-covenant version is actually a very recent invention, so I guess the people saying that one are reversing the original. ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/33 "2022-05-13T13:50:17Z")
I think it might mean “I care so little about it already that even if I cared even less you wouldn’t notice the difference”. ---
**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 13, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/34 "2022-05-13T14:15:29Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m saying ‘none of them could care less’ is correct usage, and people have switched it to ‘they could care less’. > > Thinking about it, it’s not a switch from plural to singular, it’s a switch from negative (none of a group) to positive (all of a group). Ah, I see what you mean, it just took me a bit to run it round my head. I can see your suggested path from one usage to the other but consider me unconvinced. I think they are just doing it to wind me up on purpose (like my son does after I let it be known that it grinds my gears. note to self: do not honestly tell a teenage boy what winds you up) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/35 "2022-05-13T14:37:30Z")
“Greed is good” as quoted by Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Some people infer Gordon’s original meaning in that “greed” is a positive thing in that it drives the pursuit of economic growth and expansion to meet people’s needs and wants. Other people use the expression ironically as a cautionary tale of Gordon’s actual unethical behavior and a rebuke of the entire financial system. ---
**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 14, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/36 "2022-05-14T13:07:32Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I always read this as "I could care less about this but it’s I sort of read “I could care less” as shorthand for “as if I could possibly care less”. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/37 "2022-05-15T02:19:15Z")
Just lazy sarcasm, perhaps. ---
**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 15, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/38 "2022-05-15T21:25:29Z")
Another that occurred to me. Originally, Fred Hoyle coined the phrase “big bang” as a dismissive insult to the hypothesis of the early universe expansion. Of course now it is used widely in a positive way and it has been shorn of Hoyles original intent. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/39 "2022-05-16T15:44:00Z")
[Inflammable means flammable?!! What a country!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8mD2hsxrhQ) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322/40 "2022-05-16T15:52:45Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Another that occurred to me. Originally, Fred Hoyle coined the phrase “big bang” as a dismissive insult to the hypothesis of the early universe expansion. In a similar vein, the Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment, which is sometimes taken to be an interesting extrapolation of quantum superposition to the macroscopic world, was actually intended as ridicule of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics through a sort of _reductio ad absurdum_. Schrodinger was trying to show that since it’s absurd for the cat to be simultaneously both alive and dead, it was equally absurd to believe that quantum superposition exists until an observation is made, and then it collapses to a definite state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-that-break-or-reverse-the-original-meaning/964322.md?page=3)