# Words that, to you, don't sound like what they should mean **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706 "2016-06-29T14:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/1 "2016-06-29T14:27:31Z")
For example, before I found out what “swoon” actually meant, I thought it meant puking. Seriously - if you’d never heard that word before, I’d bet five pesos you’d’ve thought the same, no? To me, it _totally_ sounds like puking. That was decades ago - my sister was talking about one of her stupid Victorian romance novels, and “swoon” came up (ha - as it were), and was I like - really? it means to faint in a pique of romantic bliss? Huh. “Veracity” sounds like a weird mix of “voracious” and “irascible”, making me think _that_, instead of truthfulness. Can’t use “prostrate” because that makes me think too much of “prostate”. “donnybrook” - sounds more bucolic than anything, to me, because of the “brook”. So - any other deceitful, misleading, disconcerting, flabbergasting, and then possibly life-destroying words that sound like, to you, that they should have a different meaning, simply because of the onomatopoeic impression it makes on you? Nothing woody or tinny, please. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/2 "2016-06-29T17:17:17Z")
The word ‘pompatus’ sounds like it should mean _something_. Yet it doesn’t. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/3 "2016-06-29T17:33:20Z")
I always have problems with the word “doozy”. It sounds like “easy”, “lazy” or “breezy”. It seems to me that a “doozy” should be something simple or unimpressive, instead of basically the opposite if that. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/4 "2016-06-29T17:54:27Z")
In flagrante delicto always makes me think whomever was caught wasn’t so much in the act, in the middle of action, as highly visible and flaming more than a gay bonfire. Picture someone breaking and entering in platforms, lots of sequins and headgear that required the extinction of a whole species of bird. And the image is not a stereotype, this one is at the very least a 4Dtype. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/5 "2016-06-29T18:30:14Z")
“dubious” Seems like it should be honorable or something. It ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/6 "2016-06-29T18:50:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In flagrante delicto always makes me think whomever was caught wasn’t so much in the act, in the middle of action, as highly visible and flaming more than a gay bonfire. Picture someone breaking and entering in platforms, lots of sequins and headgear that required the extinction of a whole species of bird. This is making me laugh so hard right now, and I’m not certain why. As a kid, I always thought **highfalutin** was an improperly-pronounced gerund, and decided to myself that _to highfalute_ had something to do with a musical instrument. Now that I’m an adult, I find it amusing that people who use the word “highfalutin” are, themselves, highfalutin. I am also discovering that typing it over and over again makes it look more misspelled every time. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/7 "2016-06-29T18:54:52Z")
Bucolic. I’m pretty sure this is a cow disease that got misplaced in the dictionary by a drunk lexicographer. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/8 "2016-06-29T19:26:22Z")
“Inconceivable” It just doesn’t mean what you think it does. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/9 "2016-06-29T19:42:58Z")
Cathartic. Sounds to me like something given to induce vomiting. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/10 "2016-06-29T19:46:02Z")
**Pulchritudinous** does NOT sound like it means “Beautiful” to my ear. When I was a kid, I thought \*\*melancholy \*\*sounded like it was something fun - it has a rhythmic up and down to its pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/11 "2016-06-29T19:46:12Z")
Enervating. Sounds _exactly_ like the opposite of what it means. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/12 "2016-06-29T19:50:36Z")
I’m not quite sure what I think “plebiscite” should mean–possibly something medical, or involving human cells. It _certainly_ doesn’t sound like it should have anything to do with voting. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/13 "2016-06-29T19:53:40Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > When I was a kid, I thought \*\*melancholy \*\*sounded like it was something fun - it has a rhythmic up and down to its pronunciation. I love both melons and collies, so why _wouldn’t_ it mean something awesome? ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/14 "2016-06-29T20:26:11Z")
“Pianist” does not sound like it would refer to a person who plays the piano. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/15 "2016-06-29T22:41:01Z")
One time when I was a wee one my older cousin and I were playing hockey in the basement, with me in net and him shooting on me. To my dismay I noticed his lack of co-ordination, or at the very least his unfamiliarity with the game, as he ponderously wound up for a shot that ended up going way wide, or fanning on it. He was barely ten feet away. His complete lack of finesse made this nine(?) y.o. chirp (the cherub that I was) something along the lines of “I don’t like the way you play”. At this, he took a bit more time making a shot, trying to modify his follow-through, but still looking completely Dr. Sadguts at it, and after a couple shots he said, “there - those are legitmate shots.” New to that L word, I took it to mean fast, since his shots were getting a little faster. (And it even just…sounded fast to me.) From there, I made use of that word in the car, and upon seeing a souped-up car going really fast off the line, I said, “ooo-whooooowwwowwww! that car was le\*-git\*imate!” Getting a :dubious: from dad, he soon set me straight on that. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/16 "2016-06-29T22:50:03Z")
I’m curious if anyone agrees with any of the examples given so far. I think there’s something about the circumstances when you first hear a word that might make you misunderstand it, but those circumstances will be different for each of us. For the words given so far, while I can kinda see what you all are getting at, they never carried those misinterpretations for me. One that did was **penultimate**. Sounds like it should mean something even more than ultimate, like you want to exaggerate its ultimate-ness, something that’s better than the best thing ever and then some. I don’t remember when I discovered what it actually means. I think I felt a bit let down. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/17 "2016-06-29T22:50:24Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > legitmate Brilliant - how about I spell the word in question “legitimate” correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/18 "2016-06-29T22:54:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > One that did was **penultimate**. Sounds like it should mean something even more than ultimate, like you want to exaggerate its ultimate-ness, something that’s better than the best thing ever and then some… The _ultimate_ (ha) example. And a couple days ago some doorknob misusing it. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/19 "2016-06-30T12:00:12Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I love both melons and collies, so why _wouldn’t_ it mean something awesome? It doesn’t work unless a baby is involved. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/20 "2016-06-30T15:25:50Z")
I always mix up the words sleet and hail, because sleet just sounds all slick and icy and dangerous, and hail just sounds kind of wet and yucky but not too harmful. Also, whenever I see the word niggardly, I always feel like the black race was just dissed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706.md?page=2)