# ‘Sinister’ words that sound innocent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663 "2021-08-14T15:03:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 14, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/1 "2021-08-14T15:04:00Z")
Of course, a mirror image of this thread: > [@Innocently-Derived Words That Sound 'Sinister'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocently-derived-words-that-sound-sinister/948115): > > ‘Sinister’ being just one example. Sinister just means left in Latin. I don’t know how it got the other connotation. I don’t know about you. But the Emperor Caligula’s name sounds very sinister to me. But it just means ‘little boots’. When he was a little boy, he’d troup with the soldiers. And they nicknamed him ‘little boots’ because of the little facsimile of boots he wore. Hey, I consider it an example of this phenomenon slight_smile . Does anyone have any other examples slight_smile ? I’ve always thought ‘Melanoma’ sounded like a beautiful tropical island nation where one would love to vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/2 "2021-08-14T16:22:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’ve always thought ‘Melanoma’ sounded like a beautiful tropical island nation where one would love to vacation. You can sail to the neighboring islands of Granuloma and Pheochromocytoma if you like. Also the Islets of Langerhans. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/3 "2021-08-14T16:30:05Z")
“Arrhythmia” sounds to me like a dance style, not a heart condition. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/4 "2021-08-14T19:06:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve always thought ‘Melanoma’ sounded like a beautiful tropical island nation where one would love to vacation. Or a former First Lady. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/5 "2021-08-15T18:08:29Z")
Bubo/buboes sounds like something you’d call a baby grandchild. Not a swollen lymph nodes that is one of the most recognizable signs of the black plague. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/6 "2021-08-15T18:27:14Z")
I still think Angina would make a good girl’s name. _These are my twin girls, Regina and Angina_ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/7 "2021-08-15T21:12:12Z")
A “Valetudinarian” sounds scholarly, not “a weak or sickly person, especially one morbidly concerned with his or her own health”. ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/8 "2021-08-15T22:24:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Arrhythmia” sounds to me like a dance style, not a heart condition. You haven’t seen me dance. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/9 "2021-08-20T07:23:57Z")
French is guilty of this a lot: “la poubelle” sounds like it should be some type of substantial yet good-looking skin cream, but it really means “garbage can”. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/10 "2021-08-20T10:02:27Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’ve always thought ‘Melanoma’ sounded like a beautiful tropical island nation where one would love to vacation. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Or a former First Lady. “Buck Melanoma.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E7PqoR-6IFU/maxresdefault.jpg "Uncle Buck - Wart") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7PqoR-6IFU) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/11 "2021-08-20T14:23:09Z")
Well, as a student health services pamphlet informed me in the mid-90s, “Chlamydia is not a flower.” ---
**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:** [August 20, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/12 "2021-08-20T14:48:33Z")
Not only is Chlamydia not a flower, you can’t get it without having been deflowered at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/13 "2021-08-20T14:54:36Z")
Frequently found blooming at the same time as Trichomonas and the perennial papilloma. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinister-words-that-sound-innocent/948663/14 "2021-08-20T16:17:21Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Kzp84OLAd9A/maxresdefault.jpg "Robin Williams: Chlamydia, yer da’s here!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzp84OLAd9A)