# 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:** 3
**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:** [July 1, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/41 "2016-07-01T19:25:32Z")
> [@Clare\_de\_Loone](#): > > The phrase “to pan out” always makes me think “oh, it _didn’t_ work.” > > My internal monologue processes this along the lines of panning for gold and you didn’t get any, so you’re stopping…maybe tapping out of the activity? > I don’t have an OED handy and American Heritage isn’t much help on this phrase. Once again, in lieu of an OED, try [Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=pan+out). > [@](#): > > pan (v.1) Look up pan at [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) > “to wash gravel or sand in a pan in search of gold,” 1839, from pan (n.); thus to pan out “turn out, succeed” (1868) is a figurative use of this (literal sense from 1849). The meaning “criticize severely” is from 1911, probably from the notion in contemporary slang expressions such as on the pan “under reprimand or criticism” (1923). Related: Panned; panning. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/42 "2016-07-01T22:59:49Z")
motley ---
**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:** [July 2, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/43 "2016-07-02T02:59:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It sounds pukey. Thanks for maybe the best (and also my favourite) sentence I’ve read so far at SDMB. I get really contumely at the word “remiss”. Really? Anyone here _seriously_ uses that word, other than, say, being pissed at your lawyer? I can understand the “miss” part, suggesting missing, suggesting negligence. But that bothersome “re” prefix: which usually means “again” or “repeat”, so…to “miss again”? to be “negligent again”? Get “remiss” the fuck outa my face. I’ll bet nobody here uses “tremendous” to mean a large quantity. Then again I wouldn’t use it for its other definition. XD Jejune - oh _come on_. That doesn’t sound like it means anything, other than…ok I’m still stumped. I can see this definition of fulsome: “of large size or quantity; generous or abundant” having _way_ more traction than its other (and possibly original?) definition: “complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree”. The “ful” prefix definitely suggests fullness and quantity, but still…I have vague memories of ages ago coming across the phrase “fulsome breasts” and instantly thinking, what - the breasts are being unctuous and fawning? To who? And how? > [@Derleth](#): > > autoantonyms Cool! That’s a new one to me. > [@Clare\_de\_Loone](#): > > The phrase “to pan out” always makes me think “oh, it _didn’t_ work.” My internal monologue processes this along the lines of panning for gold and you didn’t get any, so you’re stopping…maybe tapping out of the activity? Always thought that too, sounding just as you described. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/44 "2016-07-02T03:24:29Z")
nonplussed ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/45 "2016-07-02T05:23:13Z")
Vermillion. It means a color sort of like a underripe lemon. It doesn’t? A kind of reddish orange? Really? Even as I type this I have to try to keep that one straight in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/46 "2016-07-02T06:16:02Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > Vermillion. It means a color sort of like a underripe lemon. It doesn’t? A kind of reddish orange? Really? Even as I type this I have to try to keep that one straight in my mind. Spelled that way, it’s usually a city in South Dakota. ‘Vermilion’ is the usual way to spell the bright shade of red that word most often refers to. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/47 "2016-07-02T06:22:09Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **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. Pulchritudinous is the one I came here to mention! It sounds like something that has putrified! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/48 "2016-07-02T07:21:18Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Cathartic. Sounds to me like something given to induce vomiting. Close. Pooping. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/49 "2016-07-02T07:42:34Z")
I must have been about seven, and learning the Ten Commandments in preparation for First Confession and First Holy Communion. My older brother had been bossing me around, just as though he was an adult with the implied authority to monitor and correct thhe behavior of little kids such as me (he was not yet nine). So I accused him of adultery (which I presumed meant “pretending to be an adult when you’re really not”). ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/50 "2016-07-02T09:42:16Z")
Nutria - sounds like it should be a good-for-you fruit Cromulent - sounds like something you should eat with butter and jam at tea time. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/51 "2016-07-02T14:17:37Z")
noisesome…noisy? nope. stinky. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/52 "2016-07-02T14:57:26Z")
Nobody’s mentioned [sweetbread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetbread)? As Ogden Nash put it: This sweetbread gazing up at me Is not what it purports to be Says Webster’s in one paragraph “It is the pancreas of a calf.” Since it’s neither sweet nor bread I think I’ll take a bun instead. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/53 "2016-07-02T22:36:27Z")
Palendrome sounds like it should be a prequel to “Videodrome”, maybe shot by Bava or Argento. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/54 "2016-07-02T23:44:50Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > “Pianist” does not sound like it would refer to a person who plays the piano. Which is why the guy who asked the genie to “make me a 12 inch penis” didn’t get what he asked for. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/55 "2016-07-03T13:43:43Z")
Disingenuous. I always have to do the linguistic algebra, to back-form what “genuous” seems to mean, and then cancel out the double negative “not not genuous”, and then remember by a rule of thumb that it means the opposite of “genuine”. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/56 "2016-07-03T14:50:11Z")
I used to like crapulous because I thought it meant crappy (“ok that’s just plain crapulous, right?”) but when I found out it meant drunk/hungover it lost its appeal for me. Interesting how restive means the opposite of rest - not quite (almost!) getting in autoantonym territory. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/57 "2016-07-05T01:09:14Z")
Rectilinear. Guess why. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/58 "2016-07-05T01:55:34Z")
Crepuscular. Beautiful time of day. Really unattractive word. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/59 "2016-07-06T14:38:21Z")
Syphilis is the opposite of crepuscular in that it sounds beautiful in a poetically sibilant way, yet has a really unattractive meaning. A former prof, the poet Robin Skelton, pointed that out to us in his final year of teaching. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706/60 "2016-07-07T21:42:26Z")
If you’re asked to introduce some levity, it sounds like it means to get serious. In fact, it means to get silly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-to-you-dont-sound-like-what-they-should-mean/758706.md?page=4)