# Words of which you thought you knew the meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643 "2010-07-31T01:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/41 "2010-08-11T19:41:06Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Today, I learned what ‘figging’ meant. It has nothing to do with figgy pudding. Nothing at all. :eek: THAT’s what ‘gingering up’ is from?!? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/42 "2010-08-11T19:53:54Z")
Until a few years ago, I thought ‘fecund’ had something to do with sex; in a way it does. 1 : fruitful in offspring or vegetation : prolific 2 : intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree \ I just thought it was a little more down-and-dirty than it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/43 "2010-08-11T20:26:42Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I used to think “prodigal” meant, well, clever and brilliant, like a prodigy. I’d heard the phrase “the prodigal son” but was a bit hazy on the story, so I thought a prodigal son was the brains of the family. I thought this until embarrassingly recently, too… Until just this very moment, I thought “prodigal” meant something like “one who is wandering/cast out/estranged”. I thought the Son was Prodigal because he left his family and never came back. Apparently, though, it means “spendthriftly or luxurious”. In other words, bad with money. I used to think that “clandestine” meant something climactic. Like a clandestine meeting was one that was important; the crux of a plan or something. If a clandestine thing got botched, the whole plan would go to shit. But then I found out it just meant “secret” or “hidden”. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/44 "2010-08-11T21:08:23Z")
In my case, I didn’t know “inflammable” was a real word. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/45 "2010-08-11T22:15:09Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Until just this very moment, I thought “prodigal” meant something like “one who is wandering/cast out/estranged”. I thought the Son was Prodigal because he left his family and never came back. Apparently, though, it means “spendthriftly or luxurious”. In other words, bad with money. I always thought that prodigal meant that he had left his home and lost his way. Some people here have complained that people use prodigal incorrectly, but you’re the first to actually give a definition. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/46 "2010-08-11T22:16:30Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > In my case, I didn’t know “inflammable” was a real word. I first heard it on a Simpsons episode a while back. Before then I don’t remember hearing the word (although with my bad memory I might have and forgotten). ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/47 "2010-08-11T22:22:56Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > maggie- it’s lead (metal) and led (guided). > > Cavalry and Calvary are pronounced differently. Ah. Bah. You know what I mean. Anyway, not having been raised Christian, I’d never heard “Calvary” actually prounounced, I’d only read it on church signs. And I know I’ve heard “Cavalry” prounounced as though it had two l’s - “Calvalry” - which only added to the confusion, because although I knew it only had one I wasn’t positive which was the real one unless I thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/48 "2010-08-11T23:38:52Z")
> [@gurujulp](#): > > :eek: > THAT’s what ‘gingering up’ is from?!? There are some things it is best not to google, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/49 "2010-08-12T00:24:13Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > RadicalPi, for some uknown reason \*a lot \*of people mix up fuchsia (vivid purplely-pink) and chartreuse (sickly greenish yellow). I was afraid that I had gotten it wrong, even now, that I had to look it up before I posted. ---
**Author:** ![defenestrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@defenestrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/defenestrix)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/50 "2010-08-12T05:59:20Z")
Roman a clef. It turns out to be a “novel with a key” - one that describes real life using a simple code where character X = actual person Y. The “roman”/novel part I knew. “A clef” I assumed to be some French euphemism for “sex scandal”. Thank God it was Wikipedia and not an English teacher that finally corrected me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/51 "2010-08-12T08:13:05Z")
I discovered the meaning of “squalor” in these boards (a while back, though) and “squalid”; they are false friends of the Spanish escuálido (which means “thin, underfed” or “dirty” but doesn’t involve an accumulation of either filth or goods). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643/52 "2010-11-17T22:30:16Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Until just this very moment, I thought “prodigal” meant something like “one who is wandering/cast out/estranged”. I thought the Son was Prodigal because he left his family and never came back. Apparently, though, it means “spendthriftly or luxurious”. In other words, bad with money. Your original thought is actually the most commonly used meaning. But this is the puzzling part: Dictionary definitions are accorded in a large part by common usage. I found references to “prodigal son” as far back as the 1800s meaning “wayward, wandering, lost,” etc.," but that connotation has yet to find its way into Merriam-Webster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-which-you-thought-you-knew-the-meaning/548643.md?page=2)