Words you've misunderstood / linked wrong in your mind

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m reading a lot of scientific papers at the mo, and every time I read the word equivocal I think “clear”, “definite”. I don’t know if it’s because UNequivocal is more common outside of science, but that’s the link in my brain and I keep having to correct myself.

Corollary is still linked in my mind with something like “the opposite of”.

And a couple of examples from maybe young teenager or pre-teen: adjacent and sprinting (I thought sprinting meant something like jogging; that it was slower than running. Yeah I know there’s a 100m sprint but I hadn’t really thought about it).

2

Nonplussed never means what I think it should mean.

3

“Inflammable” (capable of being inflamed) no longer means what it meant when I was growing up.

4

I always have to stop and think about “levity.” For some reason it evokes in me a feeling of being heavy and serious.

5

I just recently used the word “dearth” in the sense of (for example) “we have a dearth of reality shows on the TV now” and it was taken to mean what I literally typed (that there aren’t that many reality shows on the TV) rather than what I meant (we’re innundated with them). Was called out on it (may have even been on the SDMB, not sure) and my ignorance was fought.

6

Clavicle still sounds like a musical instrument to me. I always call it a collarbone.

7

I have to remind myself not to use “bemuse” when I want “amuse”.

Can’t seem to remember “bemuse” means “to confuse, to bewilder”

8

Haven’t you heard of The Well-Tempered Clavicle? It’s famous among the chiropractic set.