# Words that don't mean what they sound like they mean **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418 "2006-04-05T15:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/41 "2006-04-06T23:27:10Z")
**Enormity** does not mean large. You can talk about the enormity of the Nazi genocide attempts, but not about the enormity of the Grand Canyon. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/42 "2006-04-06T23:50:07Z")
Kumkwat ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/43 "2006-04-07T00:07:37Z")
Bucolic _should_ mean a place that is damp, and festering with pestilence; a place you just know you’re going to contract the plague at if you dare step foot in it. Not pastoral. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/44 "2006-04-07T05:02:02Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > Crepuscular, sounds like a horrible medical condition. Hey, I was going to mention that one! It certainly sounds like something ugly, though it isn’t. [Crepuscular rays](http://www.capetownskies.com/9498/23_sunbeam_spectacle.htm) can add a lot of beauty and interest to a sunset. Temerity sounds like someone who’s timid, not audaciously bold. Sober, when I first heard the word, sounded like a dirty word to me. Of course, I soon learned it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/45 "2006-04-07T14:44:12Z")
“Suffrage” sounds like a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/46 "2006-04-07T20:20:05Z")
“Spendthrift” sounds like it should describe a miser, rather than a wastrel. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/47 "2006-04-07T21:41:03Z")
**officious** Marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice to others: an officious host; officious attention. Informal; unofficial. People always think it means “official.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/48 "2006-04-07T21:44:18Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > **Enormity** does not mean large. You can talk about the enormity of the Nazi genocide attempts, but not about the enormity of the Grand Canyon. HP Lovecraft could probably manage it. Fulsome and enervate were the two I was gonna mentioned, and they’ve been covered. Inflammable’s transition to flammable is one of my favorite examples of language change, because it’s so complicated (not so much in its causes, but in its effects). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/49 "2006-04-07T21:48:35Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > It’s spelled **facetious** , if it helps to differentiate. I know how it’s spelled. 🙂 Kinda my point, actually- everyone I’ve heard use it pronounces it like I spelled it. ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/50 "2006-04-08T16:50:22Z")
> [@ladybug](#): > > I’ve always thought that _nugatory_ should mean “the creamy chocolate center of hell.” First of all, why hasn’t anyone mentioned that this is the funniest thing ever. I’m still laughing out loud I feel guilty using the word “renege” in fear of sounding racist. Also I still like to pretend that “flippant” is the ability of something to be flipped. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/51 "2006-04-08T17:17:40Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > Crapulent. It’s a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/52 "2006-04-12T23:54:15Z")
Okay, I just came across a good one while writing: **saunter** To me, that word doesn’t sound like it’s doing anything ‘in an idle or leisurely manner.’ The word ‘saunter’ sounds… brisk, and a little nippy and snappy. Not quite like it’s in a hurry, but moving at a pretty good clip. Anyone else with me on this one? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/53 "2006-04-13T01:39:16Z")
I got one…_Mofongo_. It’s a Caribbean dish (mashed fried plantains.) It sounds like…a Spanglish slur. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/54 "2006-04-13T01:48:13Z")
“Natty” never sounded particularly dapper to me. “Dapper” never sounded particularly dapper to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/55 "2006-04-13T02:48:29Z")
I always think of _verbiage_ as something you’d include in a salad. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418/56 "2006-04-13T16:45:17Z")
I once made the mistake of thinking Chitterlings sounds kind of tasty and fun to eat. On an oppsite note Shitake are very nice to eat. Fop and foppish would sound like they need help from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, not that they were allready quite dandy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-sound-like-they-mean/351418.md?page=2)